Media centre

Thursday 7 Apr 2016

Welsh commuters reminded of level crossing safety in innovative street theatre performance

Region & Route:

| Wales & Western: Wales & Borders

| Wales & Western

Commuters in Wales and the borders have been reminded to take care at level crossings with a performance from an innovative street theatre group, after new figures reveal there have been 30 ‘near misses’ at level crossings in Wales.

The Yvonne Arnaud Theatre group performed ‘Off the Level’, a play highlighting the importance of personal safety at level crossings, for morning commuters at Lydney railway station in Gloucestershire. The group also performed in the auditorium at the HM Revenue and Customs office in Ty Glas before finishing the day at Ty Glas station by greeting evening commuters with the safety messages.

The campaign, targeted at commuters, comes on the back of figures released by Network Rail which reveal in the last five years across Britain there have been more than 500 near misses involving cyclists, motorists and pedestrians using level crossings during rush hour.

The group was joined by Network Rail and members of the British Transport Police and Arriva Trains Wales who handed out safety leaflets during the performances.

Tracey Young, community safety manager for Network Rail Wales said: “We received excellent feedback following the event. The play shares some really powerful messages about safety awareness at level crossings and it is a great and innovative way for us to engage with commuters and make them more aware of the steps they can take to ensure they enjoy a safe journey to and from work.”

The aim of the campaign is to encourage safer behaviour at level crossings, reminding everyone:

• Amber warning lights at road level crossings means ‘stop – a train is coming’
• Don’t rush and try and beat the barriers or other warning systems at level crossings
• Beware of distractions such as phones or music
• Never assume that there is only one train coming or think that you know the timetable to guess when a train might come

Darren Cottrell, head of level crossing safety at Network Rail said: “It is important that everyone understands that level crossing warnings are there to keep us all safe, so be vigilant and obey them – even if you’re in a hurry.”

Ends

Notes to editors:

A total of 30 ‘near misses’ at level crossings in Wales were recorded in the last five years during rush hour.

Network Rail is investing £100m into its programme to improve level crossing safety as part of its Railway Upgrade Plan. Since 2010 it has:

• Employed more than 100 dedicated level crossing managers
• Closed over 990 level crossings
• Replaced footpath crossings with footbridges
• Installing warning lights as an additional safety measure at footpath crossings
• Launched a new schools programme – Rail Life – teaching both primary and secondary school children about how to stay safe when crossing the railway
• Rolled out safety camera enforcement vans in partnership with British Transport Police (BTP)
• Invested in new technology such as the obstacle detection radar
• Introduced power operated gate openers
• Installed spoken warnings to announce if another train is coming after one train has passed through