Longest wait from amber light at level crossing to train? Why does it seem to take so long?

[silverfoxcc]

You aren't the first person I've heard get these crossings mixed up but I don't know where the confusion came from. Amen Corner AHB was nearer Bracknell (Beehive Road I think) than all the ones you mention and has been closed for many many years. Wokingham MCB is obviously operated by Wokingham box, who also work Star Lane MCB-CCTV on the Easthampstead Road and supervise Waterloo AHB on, funnily enough, Waterloo Road (the phrase 'Waterloo AHB' has caused a few raised eyebrows to the uninitiated over the years ). Waterloo AHB is due for closure soon I believe, as there's a major road scheme around Wokingham which will bypass the crossing with a bridge. You will be waylaid no more...

TSG of course it should be Star Lane crossing or Starlane?( that is the spelling on the cottage adjacent to the crossing) We moved to Bracknell in 1977, was Amen Corner crossing closed to road traffic prior to that as i can only recall it being a foot crossing that has now been superseded by a bridge. when the A329 was extended The Waterloo Rd crossing road was closed for ages from the Old Wokingham Road Junction but is now back open. Thanks for the memory jog lol

 

[ricoblade]

As always on these threads, Botany Bay LC north of Retford on the ECML must get a mention (and the equivalent Grove Road one to the south which always comes up locally but it's only a very occasional one for me) . My record is waiting for 6 trains to pass over about 20 mins but waiting for 2,3 or 4 is common. Luckily it's on a back road and can easily be bypassed.

 

[WesternBiker]

The trouble is that long delays encourage road users to take risks to get across and also usually mean queues of cars waiting for many minutes with their engines running as so few people bother to switch off, causing unnecessary pollution in situ.

I agree. Also, I recall that the issue of level crossing delays for road users (around Egham) was one of the major objections to earlier proposals to create a Southern rail link in to Heathrow (joining up with the south-western lines).

Obviously, safety has to come first: but I don’t think the resulting delays to road users is any kind of positive.

 

[TSG]

TSG of course it should be Star Lane crossing or Starlane?( that is the spelling on the cottage adjacent to the crossing) We moved to Bracknell in 1977, was Amen Corner crossing closed to road traffic prior to that as i can only recall it being a foot crossing that has now been superseded by a bridge. when the A329 was extended The Waterloo Rd crossing road was closed for ages from the Old Wokingham Road Junction but is now back open. Thanks for the memory jog lol

To the railway, it's Star Lane I think. Amen Corner looked like it had been closed for a hell of a long time when I was there probably around 1995. Big weeds pushing up through tarmac just on the approach. I may be wrong about Amen being an AHB but I seem to remember faded road markings that suggested it was a vehicular crossing at some point and also being surprised to see it on an old signalling plan, which is where I think I saw it described as AHB.

 

[Rhinojerry]

I understand why it happens, but wasn't sure if this was the case specifically at Bamber Bridge, or if there was a starting signal at the station. From your post I gather that there is not.

There is a signal on the Platform for trains to Blackburn,and one i think just before the Signal Box on route to Preston.
It is quite a downward slope from Blackburn approaching BB,even the freight trains take it steady as there is a curve left several hundred yards from the platform..

 

[The Lad]

Often the overlap ( overun space) for the starting signal includes the crossing so the crossing needs to be down to allow a train to approach it+. Hence the attraction of putting the platform after the crossing so the crossing is not affected by the station dwell time.
+ If conditions do not permit the train to proceed, depending on the signalling layout, with the assent of the driver the signal can be put back to danger and the barriers opened.

 

[najaB]

Often the overlap ( overun space) for the starting signal includes the crossing so the crossing needs to be down to allow a train to approach it+

That would appear to be the case here (https://goo.gl/maps/8pzUoRe9CCdYJTbw8) - the crossing looks to be less than 180m in advance of the signal. Being generous, it's maybe 50m tops.

Edit: The 50m estimate was too generous! https://goo.gl/maps/J5ZrbShFJZmj8roi6

 

[REVUpminster]

Paignton level crossing can be down a long time if a train is leaving platform 2 and one wants to go in the same platform. It can stay down a long as well while a shunt move from platform 1 wrong line takes place while usually a London train is leaving platform 2 which can happen two or three times a day. In the evening XCountry do the shunt.

 

[High Dyke]

Not in the UK, but from Italy. The train turns up nearly seven minutes after the barriers lowered.

 

[WesternBiker]

Not in the UK, but from Italy. The train turns up nearly seven minutes after the barriers lowered.

Extraordinary. The warning bell is quite asthmatic, and a single red light.

 

[Sean Emmett]

To the railway, it's Star Lane I think. Amen Corner looked like it had been closed for a hell of a long time when I was there probably around 1995. Big weeds pushing up through tarmac just on the approach. I may be wrong about Amen being an AHB but I seem to remember faded road markings that suggested it was a vehicular crossing at some point and also being surprised to see it on an old signalling plan, which is where I think I saw it described as AHB.

Amen Corner was an AHB crosding, closed when the new A329 was built alongside the railway. Replaced by a footbridge. I remember cycling there in the mid-late 1970s. Up trains were visible before the crossing sequence started.

When Waterloo AHB finally closes it will leave Rusham as the only AHB crossing on the Reading - Waterloo line, Pooley Green and Star Lane having been upgraded to full barriers. With much longer waits, of course.

There are (or were) regular complaints re crossing down times in the Barnes - Richmond area, and Tallington on the ECML is notorious on a trunk road.

 

[TSG]

Amen Corner was an AHB crosding, closed when the new A329 was built alongside the railway. Replaced by a footbridge. I remember cycling there in the mid-late 1970s. Up trains were visible before the crossing sequence started.

When Waterloo AHB finally closes it will leave Rusham as the only AHB crossing on the Reading - Waterloo line, Pooley Green and Star Lane having been upgraded to full barriers. With much longer waits, of course.

There are (or were) regular complaints re crossing down times in the Barnes - Richmond area, and Tallington on the ECML is notorious on a trunk road.

I suspected it was when the A329 was built, given that was right on top of it. Thanks for confirming I didn't imagine it !

I'm not certain when Waterloo AHB closes but I think it will be this year (if it hasn't already). I believe Rusham becomes a MCB-CCTV in April though, so soon the AHBs will all be gone round there.

 

[Sean Emmett]

I suspected it was when the A329 was built, given that was right on top of it. Thanks for confirming I didn't imagine it !

I'm not certain when Waterloo AHB closes but I think it will be this year (if it hasn't already). I believe Rusham becomes a MCB-CCTV in April though, so soon the AHBs will all be gone round there.

Thx - I didn't know re plans to upgrade Rusham. Egham really needed/needs a local road bridge adjacent to the M25 bridge over the railway. But difficult to fit it in now.

 

[GiT™]

3mins 58secs yesterday.

Seems excessive when you watch from a dock building as the traffic builds yet nothing in sight.

 

[40129]

Not in the UK, but from Italy. The train turns up nearly seven minutes after the barriers lowered.

That reminds me of Leaton LC on the Shrewsbury/Chester line before it was converted to AHB and had traditional wooden gates. From memory, the signaller would close the gates around 5 minutes before a train arrived and not re-open them until it had passed the first signal after the crossing, Baschurch was similar IIRC. Neither had any form of red stop light for road traffic

 

[Requeststop]

Truro: The wait is definitely five minutes before the train arrives. The wait can be even longer if the arrival is from London and is too long for the platform and extends over the crossing or if two services pass at the station

 

[duncombec]

Whilst not as long as some of the mentions here, I've always had the feeling the two level crossings in Canterbury, St Stephen's and St Dunstan's are fairly lengthy waits. As others have said, especially if trains are scheduled to pass, and I think the barriers are also down for the entire length of the London-bound stop.

I recall walking back from the Canterbury East one winter Sunday evening (my travel times meant by the time I got across town I almost always had to wait at St Stephen's for the trains into West) and not being entirely sure where to look... directly opposite me was a paramedic doing CPR in the back of an ambulance.