UK Railways - Level Crossing Question.?

Question

I live near Hampden Park - officially the most busy rail crossing in Europe.

Often, the barrier goe's down and the flashing red lights come on at least a whole minute before the train crosses - obviously this leads to frustration with the drivers waiting.

Are there any UK Railway Engineers/Guards out there who can explain this.

Is it a safety regulation that the barriers have to be lowered long before the train crosses??

Thanks.

Answer 1

Welcome to the world of signalling! I am a signaller and operate Level Crossings.

It's all to do with safety and performance. Dependant on the railway line speed depends on when a level crossing is lowered.

Our instructions state that crossings have to be operated in order not to delay trains. A delayed train obviously brings financial penalties to Network Rail.

If your local one is lowered up to 1 min before, I would imagine it is quite a high speed line. Not very nice for the motorist I know. At the end of it all, it is also for your safety that these things are lowered in good time.

If you feel that you are waiting too long and would like a specific answer for the operation of Hampden Park Level Crossing, you can call the Network Rail Helpline on 08457 11 41 41.

I can't comment on the crossing itself, just crossings in general.

Answer 2

The reason for this is simple.

Signals, crossing barriers and station announcements are all operated automatically by the Train Detection System & computers. If you have a look at the track, in several places a ramp or grid can be seen. These are also part of the AWS for trains.

The operation of the item depends on the type of train and the distance from the point of operation to activation.

The first is controllable by the radio signal given by the locomotive/train.
The second is controlled by judgement by the rail safety board and the actual engineers who maintain the track. It is also somewhat influenced by the ammount of traffic the line gets (as shorter signalling sections are used on busy lines) and the line speed rating (how fast trains will go).

The effect is similar for preserved railways - but these only have a rating of 25mph (in Britain), and often have larger signalling sections.

Answer 3

The time allowed between a barrier going down and a train arriving at a level crossing is determined by the speed of the line and the Service Braking Distance for a train. On lines up to 100MPH a train requires a minimum of 1mile to go from full speed to stop. On lines over 100 MPH it requires 1 1/4m SBD. Therefore when a train trips the circuits on the line-usually a form of tripwire- then the barriers are activated and they drop. The barrier also has to allow additional time for cars crossing the track at the time of the barrier activation to cross over before they drop, hence the flashing lights and bells prior to drop for up to several minutes.
On Crossing the crossing the train has to again hit the trip wire on the other side in order for the barrier to receive a lift activation signal. A major Factor also to be took into determining how long it takes between barrier activation and lift/drop can also be if the line is used by extra long trains, as it would be dangerous for the barrier to receive a lift signal by the locomotive hitting the trip wire whilst wagons were still crossing the level crossings.So often it is set to not lift the barrier until the last wagons wheels create the circuit accross the line to tell the barriers it is ok to raise.

Answer 4

It is a safety issue, primarily from the railway point of view, but with a spin-off for the waiting car drivers.

From the railway point of view, a level crossing is protected by signals, which form the start of a block. When the gates are up, the railway lights are red. On a high-traffic route, this makes the next set of lights up the track as double-amber, the set before them as amber and the set before them as green. All these lights change to green as the level crossing gates come down. From the railway point of view, the level crossing ought not to slow down the on-coming train, so the gates come down before the train approaches the single-amber signal.

By giving the train a safe passage across the level crossing, it also provides a safer environment for road users.

Answer 5

I live in Crawley, West Sussex where there are two sets of barriers in the town centre. They seem to come down a long time before the train arrives - it often seems longer than a minute. I think this is something to do with the fact that they are both near to the station and the barriers come down when the train is 'in section'. I am not aware of any regulations saying they should be lowered at a specific time before the train is due.

Answer 6

There has to be enough time for the train to stop, should the crossing be obstructed by vehicles. Trains take longer to slow down than cars etc. Also, people often stop their vehicle on crossings. They shouldn't cross the rails until there is good chance that they can cross them completely, but more drivers are incompetant.
If drivers could be trusted, that delay could be reduced. I catch my bus right by a level crossing and see all sorts of bad driving every day. I notice that my bus driver wont take the vehicle onto the level crossing unless there is a gap for him on the other side.

Answer 7

This happens a lot where I live, it's not that long to wait. Some traffic lights can be on stop for several minutes, that's much worse.

If the train is going slowly (like out of a station or from a stop light) then it may trigger the lights but take a while to reach the crossing.

Answer 8

Its to do with where the last signal is before the crossing when the train passes the signal it makes the barries go down . often the signal could be 2 miles in front of the crossing making the drivers white a while

Answer 9

There is a set amount of time set by the railways to allow for the traffic to be stopped before the train arrives. They tend to be automated and may be set by the manufacturer.

It maybe frustrating to have to wait for the train to pass, but it is the safest way as other trains may also be coming. NEVER GAMBLE with them you may loose more than you car or licence.