Safety improved in Cornwall as level crossing work is completed: Sandways level crossing crop

Friday 12 Apr 2024

Safety improved in Cornwall as level crossing work is completed

Region & Route:
Wales & Western
| Wales & Western: Western

Network Rail has improved safety on two branch lines in Cornwall after work to upgrade four level crossings was completed

Crossings on the Gunnislake branch, at Okeltor and Sandways, and Lodge Farm and Terras crossings on the Looe branch have all been upgraded from open crossings, without barriers, to actively protected crossings.

Previously, trains needed to slow down approaching the crossings, sound their horn to warn pedestrians or traffic and proceed at a very slow speed.

With automatic active protection now in place, lights and alarms warn crossing users that a train is approaching. New barriers that have been installed at Terras and Lodge Farm crossings will also lower automatically. Barriers could not be installed at Sandways, because traffic may queue across a main road, and Okeltor, because the site is not large enough.

The work was part of the Devon and Cornwall signalling programme to improve the reliability and resilience of the railway in the region, which also saw upgrades to level crossings at Truro and Lostwithiel.

Network Rail level crossing manager Lianne Vennin said: “This has been part of our ongoing effort to improve level crossing safety and we’d like to thank the community for their patience while the work took place.

“Safety is always our priority and, even with greater protection now in place at these crossings, we urge anyone using them to do so with care and attention to avoid the risk of injury.”

Contact information

Passengers / community members
Network Rail national helpline
03457 11 41 41

Latest travel advice
Please visit National Rail Enquiries

Journalists
Network Rail press office -Western route
MediaRelationsWestern@networkrail.co.uk

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.

Follow us on Twitter: @networkrail
Visit our online newsroom: www.networkrailmediacentre.co.uk