Busiest level crossing in the country

[OliverS]

When Colchester was resgnalled a couple of years back, there was an article in the local paper saying that one of the crossings, at certain times of the day, could be 'down' 52 mins out of every hour.

Was that Chitts Hill? I know they replaced the manual gates with barriers recently (i.e. in the last year or two), not sure whether that would enable them to raise the barriers between trains, as I recall that was possible at Manningtree when they replaced the manual gates about 30 years ago.

The most trains I've ever waited for at a crossing was 5 at Ardleigh. But I don't think that that part of the GEML is that busy.

 

[balne-wonderer]

While not the UK, the series of 5 crossings in south Dublin can see up to 12 DART trains per hour plus inter city services. 3 of these are adjacent to stations.

Conversely, what would the quietest crossings be? The Kyle line has only 8 trains a day (4 on a Sunday) though I suspect there are routes with quieter crossings than that.

Any crossings on the single track line from Hensall to Goole are extremley quiet. Especially the ones at Snaith, Snaith Road, Gowdall and Rawcliffe.

The actual crossings at Hensall see alot more action as that section of the line carries frequent freight trains but beyond Hensall it's pretty much nothing all day every day. Most crossings have no barriers.

 

[SprinterMan]

While not the UK, the series of 5 crossings in south Dublin can see up to 12 DART trains per hour plus inter city services. 3 of these are adjacent to stations.

Conversely, what would the quietest crossings be? The Kyle line has only 8 trains a day (4 on a Sunday) though I suspect there are routes with quieter crossings than that.

I would go for one of the crossings on the Brigg line in Lincolnshire (e.g. Kettleby lane or A1084). 6 trains (3 each way) on a Saturday and thats it for the week. :P

 

[Tomnick]

I would go for one of the crossings on the Brigg line in Lincolnshire (e.g. Kettleby lane or A1084). 6 trains (3 each way) on a Saturday and thats it for the week. :P

...unless there's any freight that way. Not sure whether anything's booked (and whether it actually runs) via Brigg currently, but when there's diversions off the Scunthorpe route, it's a busy bit of railway!

 

[Ploughman]

Rylstone on the Rylstone branch from Skipton.
2 - 3 stone trains a day and Trainman operated.

 

[SouthernGuard]

The crossings between Hove and West Worthing must be up there too.

In each direction off peak you have..

2 x Brighton to West Worthing
2 x London Victoria to Littlehampton
1 x Brighton to Southampton
1 x Brighton to Portsmouth

Double that, you have 12 trains per hour. Probably more in the peak.

 

[PFX]

I would go for one of the crossings on the Brigg line in Lincolnshire (e.g. Kettleby lane or A1084). 6 trains (3 each way) on a Saturday and thats it for the week. :P

What sort of crazy train service is that? I actually laughed when I read it.

 

[SprinterMan]

What sort of crazy train service is that? I actually laughed when I read it.

Despite Brigg being a reasonably large town, it (an the line it is on receives only a parliamentry service, the minimum service level required. Here is the timetable, look in the "Saturday" section :P

http://www.northernrail.org/pdfs/timetables/20111211/32.pdf

The whole line from Lincoln to Barnetby and all the stations on it (Gainsborough Central, Kirton Lindsey and Brigg) is generally closed Sunday-Friday unless used as a diversionary route (I am reasonably sure no freight is booked to go this way).

 

[Tomnick]

Lincoln to Barnetby doesn't have the best service, but it does at least run six days a week (seven in summer), and with a few more than three trains each day! There was a big push to get Gainsboro' Trent to Barnetby open seven days a week (for freight), and a fair bit of freight has run that way in the past - not sure whether they've managed to regularly get it manned continuously though.

 

[12CSVT]

Conversely, what would the quietest crossings be? The Kyle line has only 8 trains a day (4 on a Sunday) though I suspect there are routes with quieter crossings than that.

Maybe Coalville - two trains a week, both in conjunction with Underground 'S' stock deliveries (8X23 Derby - Old Dalby and 8X09 Old Dalby - Neasden)

 

[marks87]

There's a level crossing on the "third chord" at Inverness which must be pretty quiet, although that probably applies equally to rail and road because its only purpose appears to be to give a road route between the two parts of the depot.

 

[PFX]

marks87, I know the crossing you mean.

Sprinterman, that's some timetable. Is the service well utilised on a Saturday? If anyone else knows of something quiter (scheduled passenger traffic) I'll be most impressed.

 

[Tomnick]

I've used the last Down train from Barnetby to Kirton a few times in the past (a handy connection out of a Manchester - Cleethorpes that got me a lot closer to home!), and a few times it was a fairly full 156 - seemed quite popular with daytrippers coming back from the coast on nice days in the summer. At other times, all three trains would be almost empty apart from one or two regulars.

Perhaps the best example of a less intensive passenger service is Stockport - Stalybridge - runs once a week (Friday) in one direction only, and is the only service of the week to call at Reddish South and Denton.

 

[Rich_D3167]

Despite Brigg being a reasonably large town, it (an the line it is on receives only a parliamentry service, the minimum service level required. Here is the timetable, look in the "Saturday" section :P

http://www.northernrail.org/pdfs/timetables/20111211/32.pdf

The whole line from Lincoln to Barnetby and all the stations on it (Gainsborough Central, Kirton Lindsey and Brigg) is generally closed Sunday-Friday unless used as a diversionary route (I am reasonably sure no freight is booked to go this way).

Wrong. The Lincoln to Barnetby line has a regular 2 hourly passenger service Monday to Saturday (and 3 each way on Summer Sundays), regular freight traffic, and is open from 6pm Sunday to 6am Sunday (and accordingly for Summer Sundays). Your getting confused with the Gainsborough to Barnetby line, a separate line altogether!

The Gainsborough to Barnetby line is booked open from 6am Monday to 10pm Saturday every week now, with freight working down there on a (fairly) regular basis. Mainly coal traffic from Immingham to West Burton or Cottam power stations, with the odd one to Drax, Eggborough or Ferrybridge. The line certainly won't qualify for having the quietest level crosssing anymore!

That must go to a combination of Kiln Lane AOCL (Immingham), Marsh Lane AHB (near Stallingborough) & Pyewipe Road MCG (Grimsby) on the Grimsby to Immingham Light Railway & Moody Lane AOCL (Grimsby) on the Grimsby Union Docks branch. None of these lines have any passenger or freight services at all on a regular basis, only the Grimsby to Immingham Light Railway sees occasional use for diverted freight trains or engineer's trains. The Union Dock branch has only seen very sporadic freights over the last 10 years.

 

[merry]

Not sure if they are the busiest, but certainly worth a mention are the "Muskham" level crossings just outside Newark on the GNER. Very busy indeed, the barriers are down more than they are up.

I've sat at the Vicarage Lane crossing (north end of this group) for up to 25 minutes on occasion - and I only use the road as a 'scenic alternative' when the main route into Newark from the NW is a mess. To be fair, that day a blockage near Retford had recently been cleared and the trains had been stacked up all the way to Donny on the Up, and beyond Newark on the Down. So the trains were almost nose-to-tail (in metaphorical railway terms)
But it is common to wait for 4 trains or more at this location on a busy 2-track part of the ECML - and there may only be 30 seconds between barriers rising and the next train striking in. I've been 3rd in the queue and the sounder has started again just as i entered the crossing. The big pain is the freights: they can strike in 4 or more minutes before arriving. I've timed it!

Slightly aside, I have crossed an extremely wide crossing in France, can't remember where: it crossed the divergence of 2 double tracks, and there were perhaps 4 car lengths between the track sets, all within the crossing. not in the Uk, but it was amazingly wide from gate to gate.

 

[SprinterMan]

Wrong. The Lincoln to Barnetby line has a regular 2 hourly passenger service Monday to Saturday (and 3 each way on Summer Sundays), regular freight traffic, and is open from 6pm Sunday to 6am Sunday (and accordingly for Summer Sundays). Your getting confused with the Gainsborough to Barnetby line, a separate line altogether!

The Gainsborough to Barnetby line is booked open from 6am Monday to 10pm Saturday every week now, with freight working down there on a (fairly) regular basis. Mainly coal traffic from Immingham to West Burton or Cottam power stations, with the odd one to Drax, Eggborough or Ferrybridge. The line certainly won't qualify for having the quietest level crosssing anymore!

That must go to a combination of Kiln Lane AOCL (Immingham), Marsh Lane AHB (near Stallingborough) & Pyewipe Road MCG (Grimsby) on the Grimsby to Immingham Light Railway & Moody Lane AOCL (Grimsby) on the Grimsby Union Docks branch. None of these lines have any passenger or freight services at all on a regular basis, only the Grimsby to Immingham Light Railway sees occasional use for diverted freight trains or engineer's trains. The Union Dock branch has only seen very sporadic freights over the last 10 years.

Oh sorry, has this changed from a few years ago because I swear I read in about 2007 it wasn't used regularly.

 

[northwichcat]

Double that, you have 12 trains per hour. Probably more in the peak.

What I don't get about this thread is people mentioned level crossings with 20+ tph on pages 1 and 2 and a lot of the later postings talk about frequencies of 12-16tph.

While I quoted your post SouthernGuard my comments aren't specifically aimed at you, your post just stood out as an example.

 

[swt_passenger]

What I don't get about this thread is people mentioned level crossings with 20+ tph on pages 1 and 2 and a lot of the later postings talk about frequencies of 12-16tph.

While I quoted your post SouthernGuard my comments aren't specifically aimed at you, your post just stood out as an example.

I was just thinking the same thing myself. But it is always the same with these sort of questions - you'll see exactly the same happen in all sorts of subjects, eg:

Longest platform
Steepest Gradient
Shortest distance between
etc, etc...

 

[MCR247]

What I don't get about this thread is people mentioned level crossings with 20+ tph on pages 1 and 2 and a lot of the later postings talk about frequencies of 12-16tph.

While I quoted your post SouthernGuard my comments aren't specifically aimed at you, your post just stood out as an example.

I was just thinking the same thing myself. But it is always the same with these sort of questions - you'll see exactly the same happen in all sorts of subjects, eg:

Longest platform
Steepest Gradient
Shortest distance between
etc, etc...

I love when you've got the shortest distance threads and someone gives the correct official answer, then someone comes along and says 'Well xxx seems quite long?' Bless them!

 

[MidnightFlyer]

Oh sorry, has this changed from a few years ago because I swear I read in about 2007 it wasn't used regularly.

It's had regular passenger trains (as in several daily) since it was built (which to the best of my knowledge was in Victorian times), as far as I know.

I love when you've got the shortest distance threads and someone gives the correct official answer, then someone comes along and says 'Well xxx seems quite long?' Bless them!

Indeed, however the longest platform one is open to interpretation as Colchester is officially two, and I doubt both platforms could take the same train simultaneously (if you see what I mean).

 

[MCR247]

That isn't a platform! hock:

 

[Rich_D3167]

Oh sorry, has this changed from a few years ago because I swear I read in about 2007 it wasn't used regularly.

Ah, that's understandable, as in 2007, it did only have 3 passenger trains in each direction Saturdays-only (with possible freights, but was more of a bonus if it did)! The line was upgraded in 2008, opening in June that year for heavy freight traffic Monday - Saturday, and has remained in place ever since.

 

[Bald Rick]

If we're going international, type 'Yokohoma Level Crossing' into Google (images)

600+ trains a day. Staffed by armed guards.

 

[1018509]

I don't know about this country but years ago I remember pulling up at a half barrier level crossing in Tupelo, Tennessee, the lights were flashing and the barriers were down. The train could be seen approaching slowly, I wondered why so many drivers pulled past me and dodged round the barriers.

The train went past at a brisk walking pace - 5 diesel locomotives (quintuple headed) and innumerable box cars - and was still going past 20 minutes later.

I think I had my answer.