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Thursday 25 Feb 2021

Suffolk level crossings set to get safety upgrades as work continues

Region & Route:

Eastern: Anglia

Three level crossings in Woodbridge, Suffolk will be upgraded with new equipment that will make them safer starting this weekend (27 February). Access over the crossings will be maintained throughout the work.

In September 2020 Network Rail started work to upgrade three level crossings on the East Suffolk Line:

• Haywards (on Tide Mill Way)
• Ferry Lane
• Jetty Avenue (on Jetty Lane)

The barriers at Haywards and Ferry Lane level crossings will be upgraded to full barriers which cover both sides of the road and prevent vehicles from weaving around them, making the crossing safer. These crossings will also have obstacle detection which automatically detects anything that may be obstructing the crossings, for example a pedestrian or a car.

Miniature stop lights will be installed at Jetty Avenue, which give the green light when it is safe to cross. Vehicles and pedestrians must stop when the red light shows. This crossing has gates for both pedestrians and vehicles.

All three level crossings will benefit from newer signalling equipment which helps signallers understand where trains are in relation to the level crossings. This means that the level crossing alarms at the Haywards and Ferry Lane road crossings can be safely reduced from around 70 seconds long to approximately 20 seconds long for each train passage, to reduce the noise experienced by nearby residents.

The work is essential to keep the level crossings functioning safely and reliably. The safety improvements are also vital in this area where there has been significant amount of residential development over recent years. The new equipment will be better able to cope with this higher demand.

The work will begin this weekend (27 February) and continue every weekend from Saturday evening to Monday morning until Monday 29 March. Access will be maintained during this time, but there may be longer waiting times at the crossings.

Weekend rail services will also be affected and passengers are advised to check before they travel as rail replacement services will run on weekends from Sunday 28 February to Sunday 28 March.

Ellie Burrows, Network Rail’s route director for Anglia, said: “This work is essential not only for keeping everything running reliably but to improve safety for the increasing number of people who use the crossings. I’d like to thank everyone for their patience while we carry out this important work.”

Since September, signalling equipment and cabling, axle counters (which detect trains on the track) and new crossing decks (the surface that cars cross over) at Ferry Lane and Haywards have been installed.

Notes to editors

The work begins on 27 February and will take place on the following days:

Start date	Start time	Finish date	Finish time
Saturday 27 February	23:10	Monday 1 March	06:10
Saturday 6 March	23:10	Monday 8 March	06:10
Saturday 20 March	23:10	Monday 22 March	06:10
Saturday 27 March	23:10	Monday 29 March	06:10

Weekend rail services will be affected on the following dates:

• Sunday 28 February
• Saturday 6 – Sunday 7 March
• Sunday 14 March
• Saturday 20 – Sunday 21 March
• Saturday 27 - Sunday 28 March

Passengers should check before they travel at www.greateranglia.co.uk

Previous press releases:

https://www.networkrail.co.uk/news/east-suffolk-line-level-crossings-set-for-safety-upgrades-this-month/

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