Another level crossing jumper

[saaby93]

In Suffolk
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-suffolk-36985...



How long do blinking reds flash before the barriers come down? Is it a fixed delay like normal traffic lights amber is always 3 seconds or is it a different time for each crossing?

[bitchstewie]

Every time I see st like this I wonder what can be so important that you'd take your chances with a barrier hitting your car let alone a bloody train

[saaby93]

bhstewie said:

Every time I see st like this I wonder what can be so important that you'd take your chances with a barrier hitting your car let alone a bloody train

Appointment in court for jumping a level crossing

[Iva Barchetta]

I just feel despair seeing footage of such idiocy....

[Rick101]

You would be surprised how much this happens with both vehicular traffic and pedestrians.

[Doshy]

Can they prosecute the driver from dash cam footage ?

[mph1977]

bhstewie said:

Every time I see st like this I wonder what can be so important that you'd take your chances with a barrier hitting your car let alone a bloody train

i think people underestimate both the mass and the distance it takes a trainto stop even a 'little' 1 or 2 car DMU or a tram outweighs a car by a factor of at least 25 - 50 ...

[cjs racing.]

Doshy said:

Can they prosecute the driver from dash cam footage ?

Yes.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3344563/Da...

[wildone63]

Many level crossings like this one keep the traffic held up for an unnecessarily long time,there is a particular stretch of railway line a few miles from where I live that has 2 level crossings about a mile from each other.
At level crossing A the barriers come down about 30 seconds before the train passes.
At level crossing B its a good 3-4 minutes.
Iam pretty sure that when a train is travelling in the direction so that it passes level crossing A first then B minute or so later the barriers are already down at level crossing B well before the train has reached level crossing A.
Can anyone explain why that might be?

[mph1977]

wildone63 said:

Many level crossings like this one keep the traffic held up for an unnecessarily long time,there is a particular stretch of railway line a few miles from where I live that has 2 level crossings about a mile from each other.
At level crossing A the barriers come down about 30 seconds before the train passes.
At level crossing B its a good 3-4 minutes.
Iam pretty sure that when a train is travelling in the direction so that it passes level crossing A first then B minute or so later the barriers are already down at level crossing B well before the train has reached level crossing A.
Can anyone explain why that might be?

becasue of the stopping distances of the largest trains using the route ... thousands of tonnes , hundreds of feet long stopping distance measured in hundreds of metres

[Actual]

wildone63 said:

Many level crossings like this one keep the traffic held up for an unnecessarily long time,there is a particular stretch of railway line a few miles from where I live that has 2 level crossings about a mile from each other.
At level crossing A the barriers come down about 30 seconds before the train passes.
At level crossing B its a good 3-4 minutes.
Iam pretty sure that when a train is travelling in the direction so that it passes level crossing A first then B minute or so later the barriers are already down at level crossing B well before the train has reached level crossing A.
Can anyone explain why that might be?

I am no expert but it could be because under certain running conditions such as ice or wet leaves or a train brake failure it would not be possible to halt a train between the two crossings which means the second crossing could be overrun.

A similar situation is the Sunningdale level crossing where due to falling gradient a train cannot leave Ascot Station until the level crossing at Sunningdale is closed even though the train will first stop at Sunningdale Station before going over the crossing. Hence traffic is considerably delayed.

Edited by Actual on Sunday 7th August 23:28

[saaby93]

I asked in the OP how long blinking reds should flash before barriers come down - anyone know - does it vary from crossing to crossing?

The crossing is said to be notorious

http://www.lowestoftjournal.co.uk/news/work_to_sta...
http://www.peteraldous.com/content/oulton-broad-no...

mp said:

The operation of the level crossing causes the frustration as signalling arrangements trigger the lowering of the barriers before a train leaves the previous station on the line which is between 2 and 3 miles away. The barrier then remains down until the train has entered and left Oulton Broad North Station.

[Iva Barchetta]

The crossing in Mortlake high street is comical.

I think my record wait is 20 minutes and 8 trains crossing.

Unfortunately I have a customer right next door so cannot avoid it.

You could also have time to browse the cars in the classic car dealer there too....

[wildone63]

Actual said:

I am no expert but it could be because under certain running conditions such as ice or wet leaves or a train brake failure it would not be possible to halt a train between the two crossings which means the second crossing could be overrun.

Edited by Actual on Sunday 7th August 23:28

If you are correct I still don't understand why there is such a large discrepancy in the amount of time between the barriers lowering and the train passing the crossing at the two different locations.
What would actually be achieved here?
BTW the line iam referring to is the Newcastle to Carlisle line and the level crossings at Blaydon town centre (level crossing B in my earlier post) and the one at Ryton Industrial Estate (level crossing A)
Iam not condoning the driver in the original post but he/she is probably a local person who seen the lights start flashing and would know that the train was still miles away when they jumped the level crossing.

Edited by wildone63 on Monday 8th August 06:48

[TR4man]

Some people need protecting from themselves. Why on earth would anyone risk doing that?

[saaby93]

TR4man said:

Some people need protecting from themselves. Why on earth would anyone risk doing that?

Human nature
Someone else said the blinking red light time is a minimum of 7 seconds and presumably no maximum specified
If you do that route regularly and know that the blinking lights operate for about 20 secs before the barriers come down and then you're stuck for 15 minutes while a train decides when it is or isn't going to leave a station, you're going to get people jumping the red lights if they need to get somewhere.
Its a duty of a local authority to ensure safe expedient and convenient use of roads

Trying to overdo safety can not only make it less expedient and less convenient it can make it less safe too

However as you can see this time they did do it safely. They avoided the pedestrians, the other cars and got through before the barrier came down and before a train came through. The next one to try it may not, or they might.
The system needs sorting out.

Edited by saaby93 on Monday 8th August 07:44

[tight5]

wildone63 said:

Many level crossings like this one keep the traffic held up for an unnecessarily long time

Who are you to decide what is a necessary time or not ?

wildone63 said:

I am not condoning the driver in the original post but he/she is probably a local person who seen the lights start flashing and would know that the train was still miles away when they jumped the level crossing.

I doubt that they knew where the train was !

wildone63 said:

there is a particular stretch of railway line a few miles from where I live that has 2 level crossings about a mile from each other.
At level crossing A the barriers come down about 30 seconds before the train passes.
At level crossing B its a good 3-4 minutes.
Iam pretty sure that when a train is travelling in the direction so that it passes level crossing A first then B minute or so later the barriers are already down at level crossing B well before the train has reached level crossing A.
Can anyone explain why that might be?
BTW the line iam referring to is the Newcastle to Carlisle line and the level crossings at Blaydon town centre (level crossing B in my earlier post) and the one at Ryton Industrial Estate (level crossing A)

The first (A) crossing is Addison LC (AHBC).
The second (B) is Chain Bridge LC (MCB).

AHBC - Automatic Half-Barrier-monitored by signaller.
MCB - Manned level crossing (full barriers) operated locally by a signaller or crossing keeper.

If a train is heading East and to get the signals cleared (to keep the train going) the signaller has to lower the barriers at Chain Bridge LC, check the crossing is clear and clear the signals.
As the train approaches Addison LC the crossing is automatically operated and the signaller just has to check the crossing is clear (does not affect the signals unless the crossing is defective).
So crossing B has to be done before crossing A sorts itself out.
The linespeed there varies between 55mph and 65mph, I've worked trains along there that have been over 4500 tons so they take a while to stop and get going.

[Pothole]

wildone63 said:

Actual said:

I am no expert but it could be because under certain running conditions such as ice or wet leaves or a train brake failure it would not be possible to halt a train between the two crossings which means the second crossing could be overrun.

Edited by Actual on Sunday 7th August 23:28

If you are correct I still don't understand why there is such a large discrepancy in the amount of time between the barriers lowering and the train passing the crossing at the two different locations.
What would actually be achieved here?
BTW the line iam referring to is the Newcastle to Carlisle line and the level crossings at Blaydon town centre (level crossing B in my earlier post) and the one at Ryton Industrial Estate (level crossing A)
Iam not condoning the driver in the original post but he/she is probably a local person who seen the lights start flashing and would know that the train was still miles away when they jumped the level crossing.

Edited by wildone63 on Monday 8th August 06:48

Except on the day when it hits them amidships, because things like timetables and train types change all the time...utterly stupid thing to do in any circumstance.

[Simpo Two]

It would be an interesting test of H. sapiens to set the lights flashing - but never lower the gates. How long would it take for all cars to cross? An hour? Two hours? How many would turn round and ignore an open road? Could we cope in such a situation?

[silverfoxcc]

wildone63 said:

Many level crossings like this one keep the traffic held up for an unnecessarily long time,there is a particular stretch of railway line a few miles from where I live that has 2 level crossings about a mile from each other.
At level crossing A the barriers come down about 30 seconds before the train passes.
At level crossing B its a good 3-4 minutes.
Iam pretty sure that when a train is travelling in the direction so that it passes level crossing A first then B minute or so later the barriers are already down at level crossing B well before the train has reached level crossing A.
Can anyone explain why that might be?

Starlane and Wellington perhaps?

If so i dont know and have asked railwaymen as well! and they didnt know. However, it might have something to do with the girl who drove into the side of a train there a few years ago