Wem level crossing barriers fail to close - BBC News

[whole diary]

[JayMac]

From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

Level crossing barriers failed to close when trains ran through a Shropshire town at the weekend.

A photo was posted on Twitter*, with a number of people questioning the safety of drivers and pedestrians as the automatic barriers failed to activate in Wem on Sunday evening.

Network Rail said the problem had been resolved.

Witness Lindsey Bannister said it was "scary" and there was "nothing stopping people from driving across".

She said she was part of a long queue of traffic that had stopped at the crossing red lights at about 20:15 GMT on Sunday.

"All it would need is for one impatient person to have took a chance and it could have been a serious accident," she said.

"The next thing I saw was a big old fashioned train, the type with curtains in the windows and lamps on the tables, and it came through quite slowly, with the barriers still up.

"One of the guards on the train was hanging out of the window looking at the crossing as they went past."

'Fail safe'
Police confirmed they were called out on Sunday but that the barriers were already being repaired when they arrived.

Network Rail has yet to provide further details, but said on Twitter that train crews had been warned about the problem.

The firm has previously claimed a "fail safe" meant the barriers could only get stuck in the closed position.

The automatic system attracted criticism from some local people when it replaced a manned crossing in 2013.

At the time, some residents questioned the safety of the system, monitored remotely from Cardiff.

Two years ago Wem was named by Network Rail as one of the worst crossings in the country for people ignoring red lights.

*That photo from Twitter:


https://twitter.com/bevartist/status/572322182845603840/photo/1

[Ollie]

From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

Witness Lindsey Bannister said it was "scary" and there was "nothing stopping people from driving across".

*That photo from Twitter:


https://twitter.com/bevartist/status/572322182845603840/photo/1

Except the big flashing red lights of course!

If I remember correctly what I know about level crossing failures, the train will have proceeded at slow speed being prepared to stop in case of any obstruction on the line. By the further account, it does indeed sound like the train was progressing slowly over the crossing.

Suspect (but don't know for sure) that if the lights weren't working either, then trains wouldn't proceed until crossing was manually closed somehow.

[stuving]

It's listed as an MCB^▸ (Miniature Circuit Breaker)-OD, so presumably the controlling remote signaller gets feedback as to whether it closes - or if it doesn't, and why. There is supposedly no CCTV^▸ (Closed Circuit Tele-Vision) on these crossings. After the first instance, when the train may already be too close, drivers get warned to proceed with caution. 

[Super Guard]

If the red traffic lights were flashing (as they were), then indeed it would be a case of the driver being able to stop short of the crossing and being happy to proceed safely over.

If the red traffic lights were not flashing, then police are needed and the signalman wouldn't authorise a train to proceed.

[TonyK]

If the red traffic lights were flashing (as they were), then indeed it would be a case of the driver being able to stop short of the crossing and being happy to proceed safely over.

If the red traffic lights were not flashing, then police are needed and the signalman wouldn't authorise a train to proceed.

An interesting addition to my knowledge of how things work. I had no idea that there was any contingency plan for such an event.

[JayMac]

What to do in various level crossing 'failure' scenarios is laid out in the 'Rule Book':

http://www.rgsonline.co.uk/Rule_Book/Rule%20Book%20Modules/TS%20-%20Train%20Signalling/GERT8000-TS9%20Iss%203.pdf

Section 6 of that document covers the type of crossing at Wem.

[TonyK]

Section 6 of that document covers the type of crossing at Wem.

Section 6.5.5 to be exact - thanks BNM!

[Red Squirrel]

Interesting how tipping the photo to a jaunty angle makes the train, which according to a witness was going 'quite slowly', appear to be thundering through at speed...

[JayMac]

Also the car driver is probably commenting an offence by using what I presume is a camera phone while in control of a vehicle. I doubt being stationary, but not parked, would be a defence.