Investigation into User Worked Crossings
User worked crossings are vehicular level crossings where the road vehicle user who wishes to cross the railway has to operate the gates or barriers themselves. They were generally provided to serve rural settlements and the needs of agriculture. On Network Rail there are 1060 such crossings which rely totally on the road user to operate the crossing, 1661 where the road user can telephone Network Rail’s signaller, and 93 fitted with miniature stop lights to warn the road user when a train is approaching.
Every year there is a small number of collisions between trains and vehicles on user worked crossings (seven between June 2006 and November 2007), and a larger number of near-misses (148 reported in the same period). Some of these result in fatalities to the occupants of the road vehicles, but it is over 30 years since there has been any fatality on a train caused by such a collision.
The RAIB is carrying out a study of the risk at user worked crossings, which will review the precautions that are taken to prevent collisions, why they happen, and make recommendations to reduce the risk at such crossings. Issues covered will include the ways in which crossing users can be warned about the approach of trains, the signs which are used to tell vehicle drivers how to use the crossings, and the statutory framework surrounding the provision, design, operation, maintenance and closure of user worked crossings.
The study will include a number of representative examples of recent incidents, including the collision at Loover Barn, near Glynde in Sussex, where a passenger train struck a tractor on a user worked crossing on 13 June 2008. There is no evidence that the actions of the farmer, the tractor driver or the train driver, or the state of the signalling or telephones, contributed to the collision in this case.
The RAIB will make its findings available to the Law Commission, which is currently reviewing the legal framework for level crossings.
The RAIB's investigation into the collision, and its study of user worked crossings, are independent of any investigations by the safety authority and the British Transport Police.
The RAIB will publish a report, including any recommendations to improve safety, at the conclusion of its investigation. This report will be available on the RAIB website.
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