Busiest level crossings in the UK today

[Western 52]

At https://www.btphg.org.uk/?page_id=5815 there’s an interesting article about Grimsby Docks level crossing, said to be the busiest in the UK with about 40 trains per hour crossing it in the 1930s. The poor road users must have had little chance to cross – that’s a train every 1.5 minutes! Very busy for the signalman too, and presumably there would have been several staff to work the gates.

This set me thinking – which LC is the busiest in the UK these days? Many have been replaced by bridges of course, including that at Grimsby Docks. There is an old thread on this from 11 years ago at https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/busiest-level-crossing.40997/, but has the position changed since then?

 

[A0]

Hest Bank north of Lancaster must be in with a shout.

To give an example between 4pm and 5pm today it had 11 trains go through.

 

[Bald Rick]

We have this question asked regularly.

Using Pre Covid timetables, you’ll be hard pushed to beat Windmill Lane MCB-CCTV at Cheshunt, and Wharf Road AHB just down the line, both with 24 tph in the peak.

Ingatestone MCB and Church Lane MCB-CCTV were busier at 26tph in one peak hour, but those days have long gone.

 

[steamybrian]

Other contenders are
Mount Pleasant Crossing at Southampton
The several level crossings between Barnes and Richmond.

 

[snowball]

Of course, you could define "busiest" either in terms of trains or road vehicles, or some combination of the two.

 

[Bald Rick]

Other contenders are
Mount Pleasant Crossing at Southampton
The several level crossings between Barnes and Richmond.

Both (usually) 20tph max., although the Soton one does have a fair number of slow, long liners over it which keeps the barriers down for a long time. Suspect this has the longest barrier down time.

 

[Dave91131]

I'd think Helpston (just north of Peterborough) must be in with a shout - maybe not quite in terms of number of trains per hour (though 15-20 trains most hours through the day I'd think) but certainly in terms of minutes per hour that the barriers are down.

 

[steamybrian]

Other contenders are
Mount Pleasant Crossing at Southampton
The several level crossings between Barnes and Richmond.

For heritage railways I suggest Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch Railway which on a "pink timetable" operates 11 trains each way or 22 train movements per day

 

[William3000]

At https://www.btphg.org.uk/?page_id=5815 there’s an interesting article about Grimsby Docks level crossing, said to be the busiest in the UK with about 40 trains per hour crossing it in the 1930s. The poor road users must have had little chance to cross – that’s a train every 1.5 minutes! Very busy for the signalman too, and presumably there would have been several staff to work the gates.

This set me thinking – which LC is the busiest in the UK these days? Many have been replaced by bridges of course, including that at Grimsby Docks. There is an old thread on this from 11 years ago at https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/busiest-level-crossing.40997/, but has the position changed since then?

The level crossing at Helpston is notoriously busy. Six lines cross it - East Coast Mainline and the Cross Country route between Birmingham and Stansted Airport as well as a lot of freight. I believe it is closed for 45 mins in every hour.

 

[Statto]

There's several level crossings on the Merseyrail network, as the level crossings are on the outer branches, at the moment it's 6 trains an hour, but normal timetable it's 8 trains an hour.

 

[2192]

Presumably road traffic learns to avoid the ones with long down times and go some other way -- if there is an alternative.

 

[Ken H]

Hest Bank north of Lancaster must be in with a shout.

To give an example between 4pm and 5pm today it had 11 trains go through.

Since Trent Vallwy upgrade, Hest Bank also is the first level crossing coming out of Euston on the West Coast Main Line (not including branches)

 

[Western 52]

The level crossing at Helpston is notoriously busy. Six lines cross it - East Coast Mainline and the Cross Country route between Birmingham and Stansted Airport as well as a lot of freight. I believe it is closed for 45 mins in every hour.

Yes, looking at RTT today about 20 trains per hour scheduled, although a few not actually running. Still only half what Grimsby Docks had in the 1930s though!

 

[apk55]

If you count trams and a railway Navigation road must be a contender. While on the railway side there is 2 trains an hour (one each way) plus several freight trains a day and it is not unknown for 2 to run in a single hour. There is talk of doubling the passenger train frequency. On the tram side there is 6 trams each way per hour. It is effectively 2 single track railways running parallel. The road is also very busy with no easy way round and for example schools on both sides.

 

[jfollows]

If you count trams and a railway Navigation road must be a contender. While on the railway side there is 2 trains an hour (one each way) plus several freight trains a day and it is not unknown for 2 to run in a single hour. There is talk of doubling the passenger train frequency. On the tram side there is 6 trams each way per hour. It is effectively 2 single track railways running parallel. The road is also very busy with no easy way round and for example schools on both sides.

I got stopped at Navigation Road a few months ago, and had to wait quite a long time. As others in this thread have already said, my reaction is simply never to use this road again - but I was just going along what seemed to me a good direct route at the time and didn't have a need to go anywhere in the vicinity of the level crossing.

 

[John Webb]

If you count trams and a railway Navigation road must be a contender. While on the railway side there is 2 trains an hour (one each way) plus several freight trains a day and it is not unknown for 2 to run in a single hour. There is talk of doubling the passenger train frequency. On the tram side there is 6 trams each way per hour. It is effectively 2 single track railways running parallel. The road is also very busy with no easy way round and for example schools on both sides.

Please, where is 'Navigation Road' crossing?

 

[jfollows]

Please, where is 'Navigation Road' crossing?

At Navigation Road station, reasonably enough!

Navigation Road Station | National Rail

Discover Navigation Road railway station. Getting to & from, buying & collecting train tickets, staffing, facilities, accessibility, & mobility access.

www.nationalrail.co.uk

First station north of Altrincham towards Manchester and Stockport.

 

[John Webb]

At Navigation Road station, reasonably enough!

Navigation Road Station | National Rail

Discover Navigation Road railway station. Getting to & from, buying & collecting train tickets, staffing, facilities, accessibility, & mobility access.

www.nationalrail.co.uk

First station north of Altrincham towards Manchester and Stockport.

Many Thanks. I'm not very familiar with that area of the rail network, and hadn't thought to see if there was a station of that name!

 

[Mcr Warrior]

On the tram side there is 6 trams each way per hour.

Think it's currently an every 12 minutes service, so 5 trams each way per hour.

Please, where is 'Navigation Road' crossing?

As @jfollows has just pointed out, just under a kilometre from Altrincham towards Manchester / Stockport. There's another level crossing a little further beyond at Deansgate Lane which will see the same amount of rail traffic, but the road traffic using Navigation Road crossing is usually somewhat busier.

Can be awkward interchanging between heavy rail and the Metrolink at Navigation Road as there's no overbridge or underpass there and so passengers also have to wait for the LC barriers to lift.

 

[507 001]

Think it's currently an every 12 minutes service, so 5 trams each way per hour.



As @jfollows has just pointed out, just under a kilometre from Altrincham towards Manchester / Stockport. There's another level crossing a little further beyond at Deansgate Lane which will see the same amount of rail traffic, but the road traffic using Navigation Road crossing is usually somewhat busier.

Can be awkward interchanging between heavy rail and the Metrolink at Navigation Road as there's no overbridge or underpass there and so passengers also have to wait for the LC barriers to lift.

It’s every 6 minutes in each direction through Navigation Rd/Deansgate Lane, so 10 per hour in each direction. 20 per hour in total. Add in the Northern service and freight and you have a very busy stretch of Railway.

 

[jfollows]

Navigation Road also has a lot of freight paths during the day, however to see the ones actually used you've got to look at the times recorded at Altrincham (https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/se...3-21/0000-2359?stp=WVS&show=freight&order=wtt for yesterday, for example).

 

[Taunton]

Those who have known the multiple crossings in SW London around Richmond for a long time tell me that with each generation of crossing equipment the closure time just gets extended. It's all very well having high-tech CCTV control from a remote point, and some automation, but the time taken to close (and, notably they say, to raise afterwards) just seems to go outwards. This doesn't matter with a rural crossing closed once or twice an hour, but these crossings can close more than 50% of the time, and the queued traffic commonly doesn't get cleared before the barriers come down again. Even the physical barrier raising speed is apparently not what it once was.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

It’s every 6 minutes in each direction through Navigation Rd/Deansgate Lane, so 10 per hour in each direction. 20 per hour in total. Add in the Northern service and freight and you have a very busy stretch of Railway.

Are you sure? Today, can only see an every 12 minute Metrolink service, with everything on the Altrincham line running through to Bury via Exchange Square. Grant you it has been known to be busier, but not just now.

 

[liamf656]

Carey Road in Bulwell, Notts has a level crossing that’s used by both heavy rail and light trams. As the trams run every few minutes the barriers are down more than they are up!

 

[507 001]

Are you sure? Today, can only see an every 12 minute Metrolink service, with everything on the Altrincham line running through to Bury via Exchange Square. Grant you it has been known to be busier, but not just now.

Engineering works this week mean that a good chunk of the city centre is closed, but the normal timetable at the moment is a 6 minute service.

 

[Purple Orange]

East Boldon in Tyne & Wear comes to mind as being pretty busy. 5 tph each way on the Metro and 1 tph each way heavy rail. I’m not sure how much freight, but as it stands that would be 12 tph in total.

 

[TheBigD]

I'd think Helpston (just north of Peterborough) must be in with a shout - maybe not quite in terms of number of trains per hour (though 15-20 trains most hours through the day I'd think) but certainly in terms of minutes per hour that the barriers are down.

Yes, looking at RTT today about 20 trains per hour scheduled, although a few not actually running. Still only half what Grimsby Docks had in the 1930s though!

Passenger trains wise it generally it has...

10 x LNER
2-4 x Hull Trains/Grand Central/Lumo
2 x EMR
2 x XC

16-18 per hour, though a few of those passenger services currently don't run.

Plus freight to and from the Leicester lines. Most freight on the ECML now runs via Spalding but there are a few left.

The signaller in the box at Helpston controls the level crossings at Helpston, Maxey, Lolham, Tallington, and Greatford, plus the release for the gates at Woodcroft.

 

[S&CLER]

Those who have known the multiple crossings in SW London around Richmond for a long time tell me that with each generation of crossing equipment the closure time just gets extended. It's all very well having high-tech CCTV control from a remote point, and some automation, but the time taken to close (and, notably they say, to raise afterwards) just seems to go outwards. This doesn't matter with a rural crossing closed once or twice an hour, but these crossings can close more than 50% of the time, and the queued traffic commonly doesn't get cleared before the barriers come down again. Even the physical barrier raising speed is apparently not what it once was.

The same seems to be true of the crossings at Birkdale station, Aughton Road, Duke Street and Portland Street in Southport, where the old boxes were all replaced in the mid-1990s. The nearby Crescent Road, which I believe was automated earlier, often seems to be quicker.

 

[Snow1964]

Other contenders are
Mount Pleasant Crossing at Southampton
The several level crossings between Barnes and Richmond.

I have read in an old Southampton book that the two crossings further south were worse (replaced by LSWR with a bridge between the two crossings called Central Bridge). Around 1880 was reputed to be down for over 50 minutes in some hours as had dock trains and all the trains to Southampton terminus at the time, plus empty locos to the old steam shed at Northam (close to where train are depot now is).

EDIT just found it, were called Bridge Road and Marsh Lane crossings, in 1876 a census was taken and 6839 train movements were over Bridge Road crossing, and barriers were down 5 days, 19 hours and 18 minutes out of the 6 days. Marsh Lane was 2388 train movements (it was beyond the terminus station shunting), and barriers down 3 days, 8 hours, 13 minutes. They closed when Central Bridge opened in 1882

 

[Freightmaster]

Since Trent Valley upgrade, Hest Bank also is the first level crossing coming out of Euston on the West Coast Main Line (not including branches)

...and then there is another crossing (Bolton-le-Sands) less than a mile further on.


Typical isn't it - you wait all day for a level crossing...






MARK