NEW guidelines aimed at improving the design and safety of level crossings have been welcomed by the rail industry, traffic authorities and local authorities.
Published by the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) on January 20, the draft Principles for Managing Level Crossing Safety Proposals are designed to prioritise risk assessments at level crossings and provide practical advice on how to recognise and manage risks that affect the safety of users.
The ORR aims to give the industry greater confidence in putting forward groundbreaking designs to reduce risks by focusing guidance on the need to consider how level crossings are used by the railway, highway and pedestrians. The principles also highlight the importance of collaboration to remove and manage risk and how costbenefit analysis can be used in decision making.
Ian Prosser, HM chief inspector of railways said:“With more than 7,000 level crossings in Britain, there is no‘one size fits all’approach. Every level crossing is different and risk assessments should take account of the circumstances of each one.”