(Not a) Replacement Foot Crossing Yateley - Sandhurst

[whole diary]

[RichT54]

I seem to remember reading some time ago that Network Rail wanted to close all the foot crossings over the North Downs Line as part of the 3 trains per hour scheme. This morning I decided to use the crossing between Yateley and Sandhurst for the first time and was surprised to find a new, more substantial crossing under construction that will connect to a new footpath across to Shepherds Meadow in Sandhurst.

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[Surrey 455]

I'd forgotten that the North Downs line went through Hampshire. It seems to mostly follow the inside of the boundary very closely around Blackwater and Farnborough. For much of the route the boundary with Surrey seems to be 10-50 metres away.

Bing OS^▸ (Ordnance Survey) map of Blackwater

[stuving]

The boundary is of course following the Blackwater, and so - more or less - is the railway, for its own reasons.

I can't remember hearing about mass crossing closures on the North Downs Line, which isn't exactly good evidence either way. This one is called Darby Green (which it's close to, though it's in Yateley civil parish), and it's always been there, as has the footpath. The route did change a few metres to a new bridge over the river, but that was ages ago - HCC are just using a very old map.

The crossing scored C3 in ALCRM, where A is the highest risk to individuals on the crossing and 1 the highest risk overall (13 steps each). The key risk drivers were:
* Large Numbers of Users
* Sun Glare
* Frequent Trains.

That was confirmed last year, and a new inspection was due this month! I guess widening the crossing addresses one of those, a bit.

[FenMan]

I must pop down and take a look as the crossing is a short cycle from my front door. The notice also mentions upgrading the path on the Shepherds Meadow side of the crossing - I hope they've done a good job as the old path was not really suitable for cycling and was also prone to flooding.

[RichT54]

I went down and had another look at the crossing this morning (Sunday 16/5).

All the temporary fencing and building materials have gone and it looks like the  workmen have left the site for the time being. On the Darby Green side there is now a permanent security fence with a padlocked vehicle sized gate leading onto a concrete area flanked by steel barriers which in turn leads onto the new crossing. The new crossing isn't connected to anything on the opposite side.

I'm wondering if what they have built so far is not actually the new pedestrian crossing mentioned on the notices, but an access point to allow Road-Rail vehicles to get on and off the tracks?

The old pedestrian crossing is still in use and there is no sign of a new path across Shepherd Meadows, just the old gravel track dotted with puddles.

[stuving]

I'm wondering if what they have built so far is not actually the new pedestrian crossing mentioned on the notices, but an access point to allow Road-Rail vehicles to get on and off the tracks?

The old pedestrian crossing is still in use and there is no sign of a new path across Shepherd Meadows, just the old gravel track dotted with puddles.

You're right. The Darby Green level crossing is at LOR SW265 56m 22ch, and looking in the EAS, from March there are two entries near there marked "RRAP^▸ (Road Rail Access Point) work 56m 14ch and 56m 30ch W2020/7423979". Which says much the same thing in railway-code. 

Why there are two sites, 320 m apart, I've no idea, unless it's really defining a stretch of line. Where is this new access gate? I'd expect it at the end of a cul-de-sac, of which there are several along there, but none lines up exactly with that LOR chainage.

[Electric train]

I went down and had another look at the crossing this morning (Sunday 16/5).

All the temporary fencing and building materials have gone and it looks like the  workmen have left the site for the time being. On the Darby Green side there is now a permanent security fence with a padlocked vehicle sized gate leading onto a concrete area flanked by steel barriers which in turn leads onto the new crossing. The new crossing isn't connected to anything on the opposite side.

I'm wondering if what they have built so far is not actually the new pedestrian crossing mentioned on the notices, but an access point to allow Road-Rail vehicles to get on and off the tracks?

The old pedestrian crossing is still in use and there is no sign of a new path across Shepherd Meadows, just the old gravel track dotted with puddles.

The new construction is not a public crossing its a RRAP^▸ (Road Rail Access Point) (Road Rail Access Point) for on and off tracking Road / Rail plant.  Its construction would have no bearing on the future of the public pedestrian crossing, other than potentially taking land that could have been used to construct a foot bridge