New technology applied to foot crossing at Stonehouse

[whole diary]

[bobm]

From the Independent

Level crossing waiting times are set to be cut across Britain after the rollout of new technology was given the go ahead.

Network Rail said the successful trial of a speed-detection technique means it will be available for use at “complex” crossings nationwide.

The system is different to traditional methods as it differentiates between trains calling at a nearby station and those passing through without stopping.

(continues in link)

[stuving]

That's taken from PA^▸ (Public Address) News, though I think it's been cut down. Most locals have the full piece, with attribution, e.g. the Southend Echo. Network Rail had a rather different slant in their coverage of the trial site at Stonehouse:

Improved safety for people crossing the railway in Stroud thanks to award-nominated innovative pilot project

The local community in Stonehouse, Stroud, are now able to cross the railway more safely following a recent upgrade of Globe Inn level crossing.

Globe Inn level crossing on the railway line between Stonehouse and Gloucester has recently been enhanced and now features a clear and simple to use traffic light style red and green light.

Globe Inn level crossing is on a busy urban footpath that links a local housing estate to Stonehouse town centre.

Prior to the pilot project, the crossing used an audible-only alarm system to alert pedestrians of an oncoming train. However, they faced inconsistent and lengthy waits as the alarm would sound for anywhere between 30 seconds and five minutes because it could not differentiate between a train calling at Stonehouse Station and a fast train passing non-stop. This meant some people would take dangerous risks, crossing the line while the warning was sounding and into the path of an oncoming train.

Network Rail recognised this issue so selected the crossing as one of the very first sites to trial new speed-detection technology, enhancing safety for level crossing users.

The new system uses a red light and alarm when a train is due that has a more consistent warning time of around 18-25 seconds, giving users a more reliable warning. When it is safe to cross, a green light shows.

As part of this upgrade, Network Rail also replaced the old, worn steps, adding a new surface for walkers to use, removing overgrown vegetation and erecting new signage.

This project to enhance Globe Inn level crossing has also been recognised within the rail industry, having been shortlisted for an ‘Innovation of the Year’ award at the National Rail Awards.

The success of the trial now means that this technology will be available for use at other complex level crossings, enhancing safety across the whole of the UK^▸ (United Kingdom) rail network.

Richard Pedley, Network Rail’s Western route level crossing manager, said: “We’re pleased that this trial has proved so successful and provides a great example for roll out at similar level crossings nationwide where trains are likely to stop close by.

“The red/green light system, with its consistent warning time will improve the confidence of users who need to cross the railway and reduce the amount of safety incidents. 

“We’d like to thank the local community for their patience while we carried out this work and hope that they find the new system more reliable and easier to use.”

[broadgage]

This sounds like a worthwhile improvement, but presumably still suffers from the drawback that many colour blind people will not be able to reliably distinguish between the red and green lights.

I have previously suggested several ways in which the colour light signals to pedestrians could be improved.

Firstly, use a horizontal line of red lights for stop, and a vertical line of green lights for go. A bit like tramway signals but with coloured lights.

Or secondly use a flashing red light for stop and a steady green light for go.

Or another alternative of a red light for stop and a bluish green for go. As used for traffic lights in Japan.

Any of the above would be readily seen by anyone with colour blindness, but still retain the traditional red and green colours that are widely used and readily understood by those with normal colour vision.

[grahame]

This sounds like a worthwhile improvement, but presumably still suffers from the drawback that many colour blind people will not be able to reliably distinguish between the red and green lights.

It would appear from the Network Rail picture that they are labelled "Stop" and "Clear" and have the words "Red" and "Green" on them, though I don't know how visible that print will be in the dark.  How about the same standard as the road pedestrian lights - with a picture of a person stopped on the red light, and walking on the green one. Pedestrians on rail crossings probably have to cross roads as well sometimes and probably know the system - does rail need to have different signing??

[bobm]

At least the red is above the green unlike the multi-aspect (pre-LED) running signals which have red at the bottom.

[Bmblbzzz]

This sounds like a worthwhile improvement, but presumably still suffers from the drawback that many colour blind people will not be able to reliably distinguish between the red and green lights.

It would appear from the Network Rail picture that they are labelled "Stop" and "Clear" and have the words "Red" and "Green" on them, though I don't know how visible that print will be in the dark.  How about the same standard as the road pedestrian lights - with a picture of a person stopped on the red light, and walking on the green one. Pedestrians on rail crossings probably have to cross roads as well sometimes and probably know the system - does rail need to have different signing??

Many/most pedestrians, in the UK^▸ (United Kingdom), don't always wait for the green man. Even in countries where it's illegal to cross on red man, compliance is a long way from 100%. And we want people to treat these rail crossing lights more seriously – because the ability to judge for yourself whether it's safe to cross is so much less.

[ChrisB]

I would respectfully suggest that if they're going to ignore the recognised signals, they'll choose to ignore anything provided?

[ellendune]

I would respectfully suggest that if they're going to ignore the recognised signals, they'll choose to ignore anything provided?

We cannot stop people ignoring signals, but if they are consistent in their timing rather than sometimes being for an unnecessarily long period, then fewer people will ignore them and safety will be improved.

[ChrisB]

Network Rail supplied photo....

[Mark A]

Those signs. Fugliness aside, there's a *lot* of word salad there.

Mark

[ellendune]

word salad

Had to look it up.

a confused or unintelligible mixture of seemingly random words and phrases, specifically (in psychiatry) as a form of speech indicative of advanced schizophrenia.

Every day is a school day

[MVR S&T]

Quite a few distracting steps too, to get you up to a good veiwing height, but to then fall, on the running line...

[Bmblbzzz]

The blue sign under the lights, "Red lights may remain on longer for stopping trains", what are you supposed to do with this knowledge? And I thought this was what the new system was supposed to eliminate.

[stuving]

The blue sign under the lights, "Red lights may remain on longer for stopping trains", what are you supposed to do with this knowledge? And I thought this was what the new system was supposed to eliminate.

At last! A comment about what was the point of that news item; so far everyone has been going on about the red/green lights which of an established design, in use for years.

NR^» (Network Rail - home page) seem to have some kind of new predictor system here, though I've not found anything to say what it is. Predictors have been in use for many years, though are not without their problems. You may remember there was a big panic, about them letting crossings open when a train was still approaching, in Norfolk a couple of years ago. RAIB^▸ (Rail Accident Investigation Branch) in their report picked "loss of shunt" due to poor railhead cleaning as the main cause, but the systems are not as robust in their operation as they should be. (There is an article about this in IRSE^▸ (Institution of Railway Signal Engineers) News.)

That system was the HXP3 (usually identified as "Harmon", though it's now made by Alstom). This was designed in the USA for their conditions, and needs a bit of tweaking to make it work here. Perhaps this "new" system is a better fit ... or perhaps it uses more sensors, rather than relying on rail resistance like the HXP3. But the use of the HXP3 is "new" on the railway's timescale, being post 2000.

And in answer to Bmblbzzz - yes, the use of a predictor (any predictor) will remove most of the excess delay, but the time from crossing close to open will still be longer for a train that stops at the station than for one passing through.

[Mark A]

Not suggesting any additions to the signage, but any teenagers reading, if you're lucky enough to have parents and also a foot crossing local to you, take them to the crossing and while in a place of safety outside the crossing gates ask everyone to risk assess the dangers - with recognition of the one that's not immediately apparent, the ease with which the approach of a second train can be masked by the first.

Mark