Drivers stuck in a queue on a level crossing

[pint]

News story about a Level Crossing in the Midlands where drivers frequently get stuck in a queue /jam that blocks the rail line, and presumably holds up trains

Warning as drivers seen queuing on level crossing near Willington

Police say drivers have been stopping on the crossing in a village in south Derbyshire.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[jfollows]

A bit more yellow paint would do no harm.

 

[Horizon22]

A bit more yellow paint would do no harm.

Quite. That yellow box is rather faded. I wonder if that is the council's responsibility or NR's?

 

[Belperpete]

News story about a Level Crossing in the Midlands where drivers frequently get stuck in a queue /jam that blocks the rail line, and presumably holds up trains

Warning as drivers seen queuing on level crossing near Willington

Police say drivers have been stopping on the crossing in a village in south Derbyshire.

www.bbc.co.uk

It looks to me like it is an AHB, in which case there is nothing to detect that trains are queuing back over the crossing, or to hold up trains if there are.

 

[55018ballymoss]

No, it will not hold up trains.
AHB crossings like that are activated by approaching trains. Anyone with a passing knowledge of the highway code should know never to queue on a level crossing as the train will not stop even if the crossing is obstructed, in fact there should be signage as well as the faded yellow markings to signify this.
Definitely a worrying trend as level crossing abuse has seen a sharp increase all over the country

 

[mangad]

There seems to be an increasing problem with people not paying attention to box junctions and things in general. Seriously, if you can't clear a junction or a level crossing, DON'T ENTER IT! Yes the yellow lines could be clearer, but the fact it's a level crossing is obvious. I get that sometimes people do enter a yellow hatched area and think they can clear it only for traffic to stop suddenly. Had that myself. But really, you need to be extra careful with a level crossing. It's just common sense!

 

[1955LR]

Although there is no excuse for stopping on the crossing, the other question is why are cars queueing in the first place , seems a fairly open road , are there road works?

 

[AlterEgo]

Although there is no excuse for stopping on the crossing, the other question is why are cars queueing in the first place , seems a fairly open road , are there road works?

There is a busy double roundabout ahead so I expect rush hour queues are common.

 

[thecrofter]

Although there is no excuse for stopping on the crossing, the other question is why are cars queueing in the first place , seems a fairly open road , are there road works?

The recent increase in drivers using this road is in an attempt to avert major roadworks (and delays) on the A38 at Egginton where Cadent are diverting a gas main as enabling works before the road overbridge is to undergo strenghtening works.

 

[jh64]

A bit more yellow paint would do no harm.

You still need drivers to actually pay attention to what's in front of them. Callerton Parkway crossing on the Metro has lights, sirens, rumble strips, and plenty of signage, and you still get idiots ignoring all of it and getting hit by trains on a depressingly regular basis.

 

[aaronspence]

You still need drivers to actually pay attention to what's in front of them. Callerton Parkway crossing on the Metro has lights, sirens, rumble strips, and plenty of signage, and you still get idiots ignoring all of it and getting hit by trains on a depressingly regular basis.

Exactly, I doubt yellow paint would help at all, as surely railway tracks are far more obvious not stop there...

 

[Trainman40083]

I understand the gas works on the A38 have now finished. That said there will be bridge work in the same area next year. I think there is quite a lot of traffic down that road. Just up by the A38/A50 junction is the Toyota factory. But it says a lot that traffic still queues on the crossing, despite a car being hit by a train not longer ago.

 

[Angmering1974]

Yellow boxes are treated as entirely optional these days. As are most rules - there are barely any police around to enforce anything.

Anything that requires attention to do properly in a vehicle will continue to decline until we get rid of mobile phones/mobile phone addiction and stop putting huge (I do mean huge) computer screens in cars.

I don't know how the government can attempt to ban touching of phones while allowing entire computers, joysticks and 20" wide computer screens in cars.

 

[Trainman40083]

Yellow boxes are treated as entirely optional these days. As are most rules - there are barely any police around to enforce anything.

Anything that requires attention to do properly in a vehicle will continue to decline until we get rid of mobile phones/mobile phone addiction and stop putting huge (I do mean huge) computer screens in cars.

I don't know how the government can attempt to ban touching of phones while allowing entire computers, joysticks and 20" wide computer screens in cars.

In Derby, they now have a lovely camera on a yellow box junction. Think it has raised £55k for the Council already. Add that to the bus gate/bus stop fines.

 

[Revilo]

Exactly, I doubt yellow paint would help at all, as surely railway tracks are far more obvious not stop there...

Some people might assume erroneously that there is a signalman to stop trains if the crossing is blocked. Perhaps they should have red boxes (ie like red routes in London) to distinguish them from the more common and less important ones at road junctions.

 

[Trainman40083]

Some people might assume erroneously that there is a signalman to stop trains if the crossing is blocked. Perhaps they should have red boxes (ie like red routes in London) to distinguish them from the more common and less important ones at road junctions.

You can see why the railway is going to the expense of having obstacle detectors at certain level crossings.

 

[bengley]

You can see why the railway is going to the expense of having obstacle detectors at certain level crossings.

They're only at 'manned' level crossings anyway. Even though they operate automatically, they're not classed as automatic crossings.

AHB crossings are entirely automatic and they rely entirely on road users to use them properly. There is nothing at the crossing which checks whether the line is clear and indeed in most cases there isn't even a protecting signal.

 

[AndrewE]

It does look as though the level crossing rubber has been replaced but the yellow box not "repainted." That is no excuse for motorists to ignore it, but Darwin's Law applies, and evolution will proceed...

 

[kevconnor]

There are a few yellow boxes in Liverpool and Manchester now that have cameras installed, stop within the yellow box and you can expect a fine to land through the post. Maybe something should be rolled out wider to some more level crossings.

 

[43055]

I understand the gas works on the A38 have now finished. That said there will be bridge work in the same area next year. I think there is quite a lot of traffic down that road. Just up by the A38/A50 junction is the Toyota factory. But it says a lot that traffic still queues on the crossing, despite a car being hit by a train not longer ago.

Yes the A38 works finished last week. Was not just Willington which was bad for traffic but also Hatton where I spotted a few stopping on the crossing at Tutbury and Hatton station.

 

[Krokodil]

Exactly, I doubt yellow paint would help at all, as surely railway tracks are far more obvious not stop there...

Having started my railway career out on a gated crossing on a busy road with frequent, I can categorically tell you that when the council resurfaced the road and added a yellow box the improvement was considerable. People left the crossing clear if the exit was blocked, when they didn't before.

 

[andy33gmail]

Personally I’d only commit to a level crossing once it’s physically impossible for the vehicle in front not to clear it. Takes all sorts I guess…

 

[MadMac]

Quite. That yellow box is rather faded. I wonder if that is the council's responsibility or NR's?

The ‘Keep Crossing Clear’ signs supersede the yellow box markings.

 

[satisnek]

So it has finally happened - the article refers to a train hitting a car last month. Thankfully there were no injuries (presumably the train just wiped off a bumper).

There are two AHB crossings in succession after leaving North Staffs Junction on the Uttoxeter line. The first is Findern crossing (Findern Lane) followed by Willington crossing (Etwall Road). I started a thread on this forum back in 2021 about a traffic queue tailing back over the first of these as a result of an event at Mercia Marina (which, notably, they never repeated), otherwise traffic over this crossing is fairly light. Willington crossing (which I'm less familiar with) is the busier of the two. There's a traffic light junction about 300 yards away, if this is causing queues over the crossing then something definitely needs to be looked at. But knowing the BBC's (and the rest of the mainstream media's) penchant for hyperbole, it's probably just a result of the said A38 roadworks and isn't normally a problem.

 

[AverageJoe]

Imagine needing a yellow box to make you aware that stopping on a train track is a silly idea.

So much signage and instruction is needed in most cases now not necessarily because people aren’t aware of the rules, they just will willing ignore them if they think they can get away with it.

 

[fandroid]

Personally I’d only commit to a level crossing once it’s physically impossible for the vehicle in front not to clear it. Takes all sorts I guess…

Even that is risk-taking.

I wouldn't even move until there was at least a space as long as my own car clear of the other side of the crossing.

Why do drivers do these daft things? It's not even going to speed their journey up! You see the same lemming mentality every day on (admittedly less risky) normal road junctions.

 

[Belperpete]

If roadworks are ongoing for an extended period, and are causing traffic to regularly tail back over the crossing, then shouldn't something be done to manage the traffic and reduce the risk? However, this would need someone to make Network Rail aware of the problem.

Network Rail do have a programme of routinely reassessing each crossing, and so should pick up something that has changed in the traffic pattern, such as traffic tailing back. However, I am not sure how often this is done, but I doubt that it is so frequently that it would pick up on temporary roadworks.

 

[andy33gmail]

Even that is risk-taking.

I wouldn't even move until there was at least a space as long as my own car clear of the other side of the crossing.

I’ll amend, as I see the problem as written

In moving traffic, I only would commit at the point where it’s physically impossible for the car in front not to end up at least a car length away

Obviously in slow moving traffic that equates to only moving on once the gap already exists

 

[Belperpete]

Imagine needing a yellow box to make you aware that stopping on a train track is a silly idea.

So much signage and instruction is needed in most cases now not necessarily because people aren’t aware of the rules, they just will willing ignore them if they think they can get away with it.

Hasn't there been more than one case of someone attempting to drive down the railway line at a level crossing? If people can do this kind of thing, I am not surprised that people in a traffic queue can be unaware of a railway line. In such cases, people tend to get "tunnel vision", concentrating on the rear of the car ahead. Even yellow box markings may not be much belp if they are hidden under the car ahead.

 

[andy33gmail]

Hasn't there been more than one case of someone attempting to drive down the railway line at a level crossing? If people can do this kind of thing, I am not surprised that people in a traffic queue can be unaware of a railway line. nder the car ahead.

Yes it does: Facebook video

I know it’s not exactly the same, but it also happens all the time with the Cambridgeshire Guided Busway: Cambridge News Article