Friday 30 Oct 2009
NETWORK RAIL GIVES SUPPORT TO BUILD FOOTBRIDGE AT WAREHAM
- Region & Route:
- Wales & Western: Western
- | Wales & Western
Network Rail presented the option to build a brand new footbridge, complete with ramps, at a public meeting in Wareham last night.
The company has offered to support Dorset County Council by funding part of the cost of installing a footbridge.
Any footbridge will be carefully designed with access for all, so that it is user-friendly and convenient, especially for the elderly, disabled people, those with buggies or heavy luggage and cyclists.
Richard O’Brien, Wessex route director for Network Rail said: “We take responsibilities around safety very seriously. We hope our support to part-fund the footbridge will help the council build a safer alternative to connect the communities, and ultimately protect lives.
“A footbridge will provide a permanent solution that is designed to cater for everyone and, most importantly, will help reduce the level of misuse at Wareham. Level crossings are safe if used correctly, but unfortunately all too often people are putting their lives on the line for the sake of saving a few minutes.”
The proposal to close the crossing has been supported by the safety regulators and considered a welcome move by some train drivers.
In a letter from Darren Howe, a member of ASLEF, to the safety regulators, his members will testify that the abuse at the Wareham crossing has become a daily occurrence. In addition, he believes that it is a matter of time before a tragedy happens and has urged in the strongest possible terms to push for a closure immediately.
A safety risk assessment is being carried out at the same time to determine a short-term solution for the crossing.
Notes to editors
- Wareham crossing has more than three times the number of incidents than any other crossing in the South West area. Since January, the crossing has nine near-misses.
Over the last four years, there were over 80 reported misuses at the crossing and the installation of CCTV has served to further highlight the misuse of this crossing.
95% of the incidents at level crossings across the country are caused by misuse or error, i.e. motorists or pedestrians ignoring red signals barriers or claxon.
- The crossing is leased to Dorset County Council by Network Rail. The council is responsible for the maintenance and renewal/replacement of the crossing and works closely with Network Rail and the Office of Rail Regulators on its operations.
To assist the council in reducing the level of misuse, Network Rail has independently installed a CCTV camera at the crossing with voice announcements when the light is red, warning users to stand clear of the crossing when it is in use.
A security attendant/BT Police was also recently put in place as a means of deter misuse but the effort has proven to be in vain.
- Safety measures are put in place following stringent risk assessment and are bespoke to cater to the type of level crossing and the number of users.
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