UK to improve level crossing safety

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
As part of a recent rail investment package, the 1837 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 5021 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.

Detection, Monitoring & Machine Vision

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Freight poses growing problem for city authorities
    March 3, 2017
    Wes Guckert considers possible solutions and countermeasures to the problems of increased freight deliveries in growing cities. In January 2016, the US Department of Transportation (USDoT) conducted a session on the SmartCity Challenge and Urban Freight and Logistics. This session was a follow-up to the USDoT report titled, Beyond Traffic 2045.
    Read More
  • Connected vehicle trials get big backing from USDOT
    March 14, 2016
    Connected vehicle technology will emerge as a sustainable reality at three sites in the US over the next four years. Jon Masters reports. Advocates of connected vehicle (CV) technology have received a welcome boost from news that the US government has committed a further $4 billion towards automated vehicle research and CV technology. This comes hot on the heels of the US Department of Transportation’s $42 million CV pilot pledge in October last year.
    Read More
  • Sice systems future proof Fehmarnbelt Tunnel
    April 4, 2023
    Picking up the electro-mechanical contract for the Fehmarnbelt Tunnel was a milestone, according to David Calero Monteagudo, head of global ITS and tunnel business for Spanish company Sice. David Arminas finds out more
    Read More
  • RedSpeed offers schools automated no-cost stop arm enforcement
    March 28, 2014
    School authorities in the US are turning to automated school bus stop arm enforcement to curb an astonishing number of violations. It is estimated that every year nearly 17,000 American children are sent to emergency rooms as a result of school bus related crashes. And when surveyed, 99% of school bus drivers reported that the most dangerous behaviour they encounter is drivers passing a school bus with its stop sign arm extended. Every day these drivers who violate the extended stop arm signs put at risk
    Read More

Highlighted Content