Safety improvements for UK’s level crossings

As part of a recent rail investment package, the Department for Transport has ring-fenced a US$100 million fund for safety improvements to level crossings between 2014 and 2019, and Optex has announced that its Redscan laser detector has been specified as part of a new solution to automate signalling and detect whether or not a level crossing is clear from vehicles and pedestrians before allowing a train to pass through.
July 27, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
RSSAs part of a recent rail investment package, the 5432 Department for Transport has ring-fenced a US$100 million fund for safety improvements to level crossings between 2014 and 2019, and Optex has announced that its Redscan laser detector has been specified as part of a new solution to automate signalling and detect whether or not a level crossing is clear from vehicles and pedestrians before allowing a train to pass through.

Following nearly two years of testing, TEW Plus, a supplier of specialist CCTV and security products, has achieved full 4139 Network Rail Product Approval for its level crossing obstacle detector using the Redscan as the core detection element. The complete MCB-OD Level Crossings solution incorporates Lidar as the complimentary obstacle detector (COD) working alongside Radar and CCTV surveillance equipment. The solution will be rolled out to more than 400 level crossings over the next five years.

In separate news, Network Rail is to install a spoken-word warning system at 63 level crossings, starting in the York/Selby area. Instead of a two-tone alarm, a spoken announcement will warn if another train is approaching. The Rail Safety and Standards Board has advised that voice messages should improve awareness, instead of relying solely on alarms.

Highway & Network Management

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • ITS Moscow selects SmartSensor HD to help combat congestion
    May 1, 2012
    Radar traffic detection and monitoring specialist Wavetronix has announced the selection of SmartSensor HD for an ambitious ITS project in Moscow, Russia. The project seeks to address some of the heaviest traffic congestion in the world, and is one of the largest projects to deploy SmartSensor HD in Wavetronix' 10-year history.To date, 1,241 SmartSensor HD units have been purchased and are being installed along Moscow roads as part of the ITS Moscow project. SmartSensor HD uses true high definition radar to
    Read More
  • Highways England tests ghost busters
    January 22, 2021
    Skid resistance and removal for marking products are being analysed.
    Read More
  • GHSA: Pedestrian deaths fall for second year
    July 18, 2025
    However, despite overall progress in the US, alarming trends continue for hit-and-run incidents, especially at night and in places where there are no sidewalks, according to the GHSA - Governors Highway Safety Association.
    Read More
  • Building the diamond road in Lesotho
    April 6, 2016
    A job site in the Southern African nation of Lesotho represents one of the most extreme and challenging projects to some key Italian firms of the last 10 years. The project was certainly different from the norm It involves building a road in the Lesotho Mountains, some 200km from the capital Maseru, with the work being carried out by the Cooperative of Building and Cement workers from Ravenna (CMC). CMC, which has ranked among Marini's clients for many years now, is involved in the construction of a
    Read More

Highlighted Content