New warning system to improve safety at footpath level crossings across Anglia

Monday 30 Jan 2017

New warning system to improve safety at footpath level crossings across Anglia

Region & Route:: Eastern: Anglia; | Eastern

Three footpath level crossings in Suffolk and Essex are now safer thanks to a new audible warning system, alerting pedestrians of approaching trains. The crossings are the first of a total of 23 that will have the new kit installed, making the railway safer and more reliable as part of Network Rail's Railway Upgrade Plan.

The system has been installed at Spring Lane and Pagets footpath level crossings in Wivenhoe and at Islands footpath level crossing in Bentley, where the user is required to stop, look and listen for a train before crossing. The system reproduces the sound of a train horn at the crossing. This is an additional warning for the user that a train is approaching, just in case they haven’t heard the train’s horn.

By improving the safety at the crossings with this additional measure, temporary speed restrictions can now be lifted at Spring Lane and Padgets level crossings in Wivenhoe, reducing delays for passengers travelling between Colchester and Clacton on Sea or Walton on the Naze.

Work also took place to straighten the level crossing at Islands, to improve sighting and shorten the time it takes to cross. At Spring Lane, vegetation clearance works are taking place to improve sighting.

Richard Schofield, Network Rail’s route managing director for Anglia, said: “The new system will improve safety at these crossings where the user needs to stop, look and listen for a train before deciding to cross. This additional measure also means that we can safely remove speed restrictions at these crossings, meaning fewer delays for passengers. This is all part of making the railway safer and more reliable as part of our Railway Upgrade Plan.”

Notes to Editors

The new system will be installed this month at two level crossings:

Islands, near Church Road, Bentley IP9 2LP
Spring Lane, off Boundary Road, Wivenhoe, CO2 8JE
Pagets level crossing, Paget Road, Wivenhoe, CO7 9DT

23 level crossings across Anglia will have the system installed in early 2017.

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About Network Rail

We own, operate and develop Britain's railway infrastructure; that's 20,000 miles of track, 30,000 bridges, tunnels and viaducts and the thousands of signals, level crossings and stations. We run 20 of the UK's largest stations while all the others, over 2,500, are run by the country's train operating companies.

Usually, there are almost five million journeys made in the UK and over 600 freight trains run on the network. People depend on Britain's railway for their daily commute, to visit friends and loved ones and to get them home safe every day. Our role is to deliver a safe and reliable railway, so we carefully manage and deliver thousands of projects every year that form part of the multi-billion pound Railway Upgrade Plan, to grow and expand the nation's railway network to respond to the tremendous growth and demand the railway has experienced - a doubling of passenger journeys over the past 20 years.

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