Manually Operated Crossing Gates (Anglia)

[jfuller595@gma]

Apparently, there are five manually operated crossing gates on the Anglia Network.
Is anybody able to name all five?

 

[Farigiraf]

There is one at Brundall if I remember correctly


Does this one at Cantley count?

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Some lovely level crossing action at Whittlesea

 

[66701GBRF]

Stonea
Whittlesea
Elsenham

Can't think of the other two

Brundall went with the resginalling.

 

[Farigiraf]

Manual Level crossing near Saxmundham being put to work




This one near Leiston is on a disused line but still in Anglia!

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Strumpshaw Fen- Have they removed this one yet?

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This one near Beccles- Right gate, Wrong side!

 

[jfuller595@gma]

This is for research. Network Rail claim that out of the five, Stonea is the 3rd most dangerous but they won't tell me which two they consider more dangerous.

 

[skyhigh]

This is for research. Network Rail claim that out of the five, Stonea is the 3rd most dangerous but they won't tell me which two they consider more dangerous.

Submit a FOI request to get the data you're looking for, if you haven't already.

 

[Farigiraf]

This is for research. Network Rail claim that out of the five, Stonea is the 3rd most dangerous but they won't tell me which two they consider more dangerous.

I'd think Whittlesea is quite risky being on a relatively busy line (3 TOCs) and in a decent sized town

 

[jfuller595@gma]

Submit a FOI request to get the data you're looking for, if you haven't already.

Genuinely forgot about FOI. I only submitted one recently asking how many times the Police were called to Stonea bridge over the past 5 years (works out about 5/6 times a year)

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I'd think Whittlesea is quite risky being on a relatively busy line (3 TOCs) and in a decent sized town

I think I'm going to have a look this week. I did wonder about Whittlesea. Cheers!

 

[TheBigD]

I'd think Whittlesea is quite risky being on a relatively busy line (3 TOCs) and in a decent sized town

Whittlesea isn't an issue. Stonea is a lot worse as its on a dead straight road and people go over the crossing at high speed to avoid going under the low bridge. And the bridge is often blocked as it keeps getting hit a lot.

 

[dk1]

Middleton Towers branch?

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There is one at Brundall if I remember correctly


Does this one at Cantley count?View attachment 144576

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View attachment 144577

Some lovely level crossing action at Whittlesea

That one at Cantley Church Road has been miniature R/G since 2019.

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Brundall is CCTV.

 

[ac6000cw]

Stonea
Whittlesea
Elsenham

Can't think of the other two

Brundall went with the resginalling.

I think Littleport has gates.

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Middleton Towers branch?

According to the March 2023 image on StreetView - yes, correct (on a freight-only line, near the end of the line).

 

[dk1]

I think Littleport has gates.

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According to the March 2023 image on StreetView - yes, correct (on a freight-only line, near the end of the line).

View attachment 144584

This came up a couple of years ago & everybody had forgotten about that freight only line. Cheers.

 

[ac6000cw]

...and here is confirmation of gates at Littleport (signalbox on the right):



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So I think the list of five is:

Stonea
Whittlesea
Elsenham
Littleport
Middleton Towers (freight-only, low speed line)

 

[jfuller595@gma]

Great. The next thing I'm pondering is what method NR would use to calculate risk for these locations. According to an email from NR today, Stonea is the 3rd most risky.
Is it sheer coincidence that 3 out of these 5 are on the Fens? Does the landscape present challenges?

 

[skyhigh]

The next thing I'm pondering is what method NR would use to calculate risk for these locations.

@Bald Rick is very knowledgeable and may be able to explain the calculations

 

[Rutland23]

Here is a map of all level crossings

Active level crossings - Network Rail

Information about all our level crossings including type, location and risk assessments. Active level crossings map How to use this...

www.networkrail.co.uk

Regards,

Ian

 

[30907]

Great. The next thing I'm pondering is what method NR would use to calculate risk for these locations. According to an email from NR today, Stonea is the 3rd most risky.
Is it sheer coincidence that 3 out of these 5 are on the Fens? Does the landscape present challenges?

Not an official answer:
More of a "coincidence" is that 3 out of the 5 are at stations, which will increase the risk to pedestrians (though Littleport has an underpass). Elsenham now has a footbridge, but with so many steps..... and with its tragic history, it's bound to rank no.1. I suspect Whittlesea might Stonea on footfall and marginally on train frequency.

 

[Magdalia]

Elsenham now has a footbridge, but with so many steps..... and with its tragic history

Elsenham had a near miss earlier this year see here:

Elsenham rail death mum slams pair who dodged crossing gates

Recent footage showed two people narrowly missing a train at a crossing where teenagers died in 2005.

www.bbc.co.uk

The mother of a teenager who was killed by a train has criticised the "stupidity" of people who were nearly struck at the same level crossing.
Olivia Bazlinton, 14, and Charlotte Thompson, 13, were hit at the crossing in Elsenham, Essex, on 3 December 2005.
Recently released CCTV footage showed two people climbing around fencing to avoid the locked gates, with a fast train narrowly missing them.
Tina Hughes, Olivia's mum, said she was "horrified" when she saw the video.

 

[jfuller595@gma]

Not an official answer:
More of a "coincidence" is that 3 out of the 5 are at stations, which will increase the risk to pedestrians (though Littleport has an underpass). Elsenham now has a footbridge, but with so many steps..... and with its tragic history, it's bound to rank no.1. I suspect Whittlesea might Stonea on footfall and marginally on train frequency.

That's helpful. Thank you

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Here is a map of all level crossings

Active level crossings - Network Rail

Information about all our level crossings including type, location and risk assessments. Active level crossings map How to use this...

www.networkrail.co.uk

Regards,

Ian

Thank you

 

[Bald Rick]

Level Crossing Risk is a complicated subject, far too detailed for me to go into in full.

In summary, the risk is that of a fatality at each crossing per year. It is calculated using an algorithm that has dozens of inputs, including the type of crossing, the type of highway or path crossing it, the nature of the crossing approach, use of the crossing (number of trains, their speed, how many passenegrs are on the trains), use of the crossing on the road / path (number of vehicles, bikes, pedestrians, and vulnerable users), crossing visibility, and the history of misuse / abuse at the crossing.

The output risk in terms of expected fatalities per year are normally rather small numbers, and these are converted into two scores:

A letter in the range A to M (A being highest, M being essentially 0) representing the individual risk to people on the path / road crossing the line

A number in the range 1 to 13 (1 being highest, 13 being essentially zero) representing the collective risk, which is to all people using the crossing either by road / path / train and also includes the risk to rail staff. This is the most important of the two scores.

The steps between each number or letter are effectively an order of magnitude, ie a ‘2’ crossing has a risk of fatality per year roughly 10 times greater than a ‘3’ crossing.

As it happens I know all these crossings very well, having visited 4 of them professionally and cycled across 4 as a road user. On the NR Level Crossing map they are scored as follows, and there are no surprises (I have ranked them in order)

Whittlesey C2
Elsenham C4
Stonea E4
Littleport G4
Middleton L10

There is another active Level Crossing on Anglia on a Public Highway with Gates - Trinity Lane just south of Cheshunt. It is ofen disregarded as a public highway, as it is only used by gardeners getting to their allotments.

 

[jfuller595@gma]

Level Crossing Risk is a complicated subject, far too detailed for me to go into in full.

In summary, the risk is that of a fatality at each crossing per year. It is calculated using an algorithm that has dozens of inputs, including the type of crossing, the type of highway or path crossing it, the nature of the crossing approach, use of the crossing (number of trains, their speed, how many passenegrs are on the trains), use of the crossing on the road / path (number of vehicles, bikes, pedestrians, and vulnerable users), crossing visibility, and the history of misuse / abuse at the crossing.

The output risk in terms of expected fatalities per year are normally rather small numbers, and these are converted into two scores:

A letter in the range A to M (A being highest, M being essentially 0) representing the individual risk to people on the path / road crossing the line

A number in the range 1 to 13 (1 being highest, 13 being essentially zero) representing the collective risk, which is to all people using the crossing either by road / path / train and also includes the risk to rail staff. This is the most important of the two scores.

The steps between each number or letter are effectively an order of magnitude, ie a ‘2’ crossing has a risk of fatality per year roughly 10 times greater than a ‘3’ crossing.

As it happens I know all these crossings very well, having visited 4 of them professionally and cycled across 4 as a road user. On the NR Level Crossing map they are scored as follows, and there are no surprises (I have ranked them in order)

Whittlesey C2
Elsenham C4
Stonea E4
Littleport G4
Middleton L10

There is another active Level Crossing on Anglia on a Public Highway with Gates - Trinity Lane just south of Cheshunt. It is ofen disregarded as a public highway, as it is only used by gardeners getting to their allotments.

That's very helpful. Thank you. Every time I contact Cambs Highways I'm told that they cannot do anything around the crossing as it falls under the jurisdiction of NR. NR sent me a map that shows that their "area of responsibility" which seems to extend past the merging point on the road. In practice, I don't know what this map means In regards to who maintains what.

 

[Class 170101]

Is Bush Hill Park (near Enfield Town) still manually operated?

 

[ex-probationer]

Level Crossing Risk is a complicated subject, far too detailed for me to go into in full.

In summary, the risk is that of a fatality at each crossing per year. It is calculated using an algorithm that has dozens of inputs, including the type of crossing, the type of highway or path crossing it, the nature of the crossing approach, use of the crossing (number of trains, their speed, how many passenegrs are on the trains), use of the crossing on the road / path (number of vehicles, bikes, pedestrians, and vulnerable users), crossing visibility, and the history of misuse / abuse at the crossing.

The output risk in terms of expected fatalities per year are normally rather small numbers, and these are converted into two scores:

A letter in the range A to M (A being highest, M being essentially 0) representing the individual risk to people on the path / road crossing the line

A number in the range 1 to 13 (1 being highest, 13 being essentially zero) representing the collective risk, which is to all people using the crossing either by road / path / train and also includes the risk to rail staff. This is the most important of the two scores.

The steps between each number or letter are effectively an order of magnitude, ie a ‘2’ crossing has a risk of fatality per year roughly 10 times greater than a ‘3’ crossing.

As it happens I know all these crossings very well, having visited 4 of them professionally and cycled across 4 as a road user. On the NR Level Crossing map they are scored as follows, and there are no surprises (I have ranked them in order)

Whittlesey C2
Elsenham C4
Stonea E4
Littleport G4
Middleton L10

There is another active Level Crossing on Anglia on a Public Highway with Gates - Trinity Lane just south of Cheshunt. It is ofen disregarded as a public highway, as it is only used by gardeners getting to their allotments.

Nobody seems to have mentioned Dullingham (Key-Locks), adjacent to the station.

I understand there are still some User Worked Crossings on Public Roads in Anglia, though Belaugh Road and Coltishall Road on the Cromer Line have recently been commissioned as AHBs.

 

[Future]

Is Bush Hill Park (near Enfield Town) still manually operated?

Assuming you mean Lincoln Road LC in Bush Hill Park, it is a Public Footpath Crossing with Whistleboards. So, yes, in short.

 

[ac6000cw]

Nobody seems to have mentioned Dullingham (Key-Locks), adjacent to the station.

Good point - that would make six, so I wonder if NR saying there are five crossings with manual gates means the Middleton Towers crossing wasn't included in their total?

(Dullingham is being upgraded - presumably to full-barriers - as part of the current Cambridge area re-signalling project, along with Dullingham signalbox closing).

 

[apinnard]

Level Crossing Risk is a complicated subject, far too detailed for me to go into in full.

In summary, the risk is that of a fatality at each crossing per year. It is calculated using an algorithm that has dozens of inputs, including the type of crossing, the type of highway or path crossing it, the nature of the crossing approach, use of the crossing (number of trains, their speed, how many passenegrs are on the trains), use of the crossing on the road / path (number of vehicles, bikes, pedestrians, and vulnerable users), crossing visibility, and the history of misuse / abuse at the crossing.

The output risk in terms of expected fatalities per year are normally rather small numbers, and these are converted into two scores:

A letter in the range A to M (A being highest, M being essentially 0) representing the individual risk to people on the path / road crossing the line

A number in the range 1 to 13 (1 being highest, 13 being essentially zero) representing the collective risk, which is to all people using the crossing either by road / path / train and also includes the risk to rail staff. This is the most important of the two scores.

The steps between each number or letter are effectively an order of magnitude, ie a ‘2’ crossing has a risk of fatality per year roughly 10 times greater than a ‘3’ crossing.

As it happens I know all these crossings very well, having visited 4 of them professionally and cycled across 4 as a road user. On the NR Level Crossing map they are scored as follows, and there are no surprises (I have ranked them in order)

Whittlesey C2
Elsenham C4
Stonea E4
Littleport G4
Middleton L10

There is another active Level Crossing on Anglia on a Public Highway with Gates - Trinity Lane just south of Cheshunt. It is ofen disregarded as a public highway, as it is only used by gardeners getting to their allotments.

I dread to think what Motts Lane was scored before it was replaced with the bridge.

 

[Annetts key]

Ultimately, the actual risk level at level crossings is a combination of the railway and highways authorities sticking to their procedures regardless and people misunderstanding or misusing the crossings.

Hence I don’t agree with the Network Rails official risk ranking system. IMHO, in the past, it’s been more of a tool to resist spending money on improvements.

Especially when in the past, a railway employee who is supervising the crossing (the only reason they were there) has difficulty with the state of the crossing warning light (the lights were actually disconnected so were definitely not electrically lit, but due to sunlight and what I considered poor design, one looked lit). If the railway employee got it wrong, how are the public supposed to get it correct?

But because the crossing lights passed all the official tests, it was deemed safe. Thankfully the crossing I’m talking about has since been upgraded. And no, I’m not going to say which crossing it is.

At another crossing, an occupation/accommodation crossing (access to private land) with telephones to the signal box and normal metal bar (farm) gates, the railway actually employed someone to sit in a hut for a number of weeks to log what each user did.

The railway then compared these logs against the signal box logs. This revealed that users knowing they were being watched, were pretending to use the telephone (the crossing instructions require vehicle drivers to telephone before crossing) but were not actually calling the signaller.

As a result, the crossing was upgraded to a MSL type crossing. And no, I’m not giving details of this crossing either.

I’ve always argued (but mostly got nowhere) that the railway should use CCTV systems to record what actually happens at level crossings, to discover if users are misusing them. These should not be used for the purpose of prosecutions. Just to find out if there is a problem and how bad it is. Where there is crossing equipment, the CCTV recording can also be used to find out if the crossing equipment malfunctioned if an allegation is made that the crossing equipment did not work correctly.

Under pressure from the ORR Network Rail have been upgrading more level crossings in recent years, which is definitely a good thing.

Now if only the government would spend some serious money on educating road users about level crossing safety.

 

[Bald Rick]

I dread to think what Motts Lane was scored before it was replaced with the bridge.

IIRC it was in the top 3 highest risk crossings in Anglia, something like a B3. It also cost a fortune to maintain.

 

[Class 170101]

IIRC it was in the top 3 highest risk crossings in Anglia, something like a B3. It also cost a fortune to maintain.

and a pain for stopping trains at Witham heading country bound.

 

[dk1]

and a pain for stopping trains at Witham heading country bound.

Still part of the signalling system from what I can see especially when following a stopping service at Witham on the down. I think Long Green (Marks Tey) is too.