Trivia: Level crossings with no pedestrian access while they're down

[jammmmmsssssss]

...although at least that's an AHB crossing so the 'closed' times are fairly short.

Great Shelford (just south of Cambridge), Westerfield (on the Felixstowe branch) and Manea are all full barrier crossings with no other means of crossing the line or between the platforms.

Roydon as well

 

[Meole]

Gilling in N Yorks had this problem and the NER gave in with a spare footbridge installed in 1894.

 

[K.o.R]

Bedhampton for the foreseeable future!

 

[Millisle]

Chilworth.

 

[Harpers Tate]

Kiveton Park in South Yorks.

Situation made worse by this:

The sole TVM is on the westbound platform (towards Sheffield). Understandable; that will be the more used side. The very small car park is on that side. But most foot passengers and almost all those arriving by bus will arrive at the eastbound side.

This is a Penalty Fare station.

Eastbound pax., needing a ticket therefore have to cross this crossing twice; to arrive there with enough time to cross the track, interact with the TVM, and then cross the track again, and all before the barriers are lowered several minutes before the approach of their train. Add something like 10 (wasted) minutes to the journey time.

(Probably quicker, cheaper and easier to drive!)

 

[MTN]

Moreton (Dorset)

 

[Sussex Ben]

East Tilbury
Berwick (Sussex)

 

[Kite159]

Chathill was one when I visited a few years ago, and can't imagine it is any different now.

Allens West was another where I recall having to be at the right side of the barriers before the train we needed approached

The barriers at Chathill do come down quite early, I presume the signalling is set up if the train is a nonstop service going line speed when it passes the point where the barriers are activated when the unit returns from the hideaway loop further north.

Not somewhere you want to be caught out on the wrong side of the barriers!

 

[DarloRich]

Is the one in the middle of the old brick works at Stewart by still open

I think it is inaccessible full stop being within a sealed compound

 

[alholmes]

Foxton in Cambridgeshire would be another. Can sometimes be down for a few trains if they’re bunched together.

 

[jammmmmsssssss]

Foxton in Cambridgeshire would be another. Can sometimes be down for a few trains if they’re bunched together.

Same with shepreth

 

[Sun Chariot]

Bedhampton for the foreseeable future!

Yep, I've shared the love on post #5

 

[Boilinthebag]

Stocks Lane, Causeway and Appleford in Oxfordshire . First two are an endless source of parish news entries although at least the main access for Truck festival is no longer over Causeway. Appleford is an oddity in that it is barriers down by default and you need to be on an authorised users list to be allowed across AFAIK.

 

[Rail Ranger]

Navigation Road. There has never been a footbridge since the station opened in 1931. Those approaching from the Broadheath side have to allow a lot of extra time if travelling towards Chester. The barriers come down for a tram in each direction and can stay down for the Chester train. Those travelling towards Manchester on the train can often run to the train when the barriers go up but the barriers may stay down for trams.

 

[ajs]

Fishbourne, Nutbourne and Southbourne all have no other way to cross to my knowledge. The former two have AHBs I believe, the latter a full MCB. There's numerous stations where the footbridge/subway is not accessible, so the level crossing is the official accessible route (Ford, Angmering)

And don’t forget Warblington between Havant & Emsworth.

When l used to work l caught a train at 0729. To make sure l was the right side of the barriers l had to be at the station by 0715 as on some days of the week there was a stone train to Chichester . I did not know of RTT trains then so had to assume that the train would run every day.

I have seen school children climb over the barriers so as not to miss their trains, only to be taken to task by the man in the ticket office who then made sure they missed the train and obtained their details to contact their parents and school.

There have been plans for a footbridge at Warblington for some 20 years following a death on the line but whilst planning permission was granted that’s as far as it’s got.

 

[D6130]

Cononley, near Skipton, is another example. The village is on the Down side, but most commuters have to cross to the Up platform to catch their train to work in Leeds, Bradford or Keighley. When I was a driver at Skipton there were frequent instances of passengers jumping over the barriers and running across the line in front of the train that they were trying to catch. It became so bad, that the company put up a sign reminding conductors to wait for passengers crossing to the Up platform after the barriers had been raised. However, if the barriers stayed down for a train coming in the other direction, they were snookered!

 

[peteb]

Hartlebury, Blakedown on the Birmingham to Worcester via Kidderminster line. Hartlebury used to have a footbridge, long removed. Blakedown had independent side pedestrian gates on the crossing before lowering barriers were installed, but never had a footbridge.

 

[Lampshade]

Bamber Bridge springs to mind.

 

[Deafdoggie]

I would say there are more level crossings with no pedestrian access than with.
Alsager was very bad at one time when the barriers would lower every hour for the Crewe-Derby, stay down for the London-Crewe and still stay down for the Crewe-London.
They solved the problem by removing the trains.

 

[Rail Ranger]

There used to be a subway at Bamber Bridge level crossing but it was closed and filled in in 2005/6.

 

[Taunton]

This was the principal contributor of the Elsenham fatal accident to the schoolgirls some years ago. Village was on one side of the line, but the ticket office was on the other side, just because that was the London direction where most revenue was generated. Road level crossing at platform end. There once had been a ticket office on the Cambridge-bound platform, but that had been closed, no ticket machine, just notices put up about Penalties and even Prosecution if no ticket held. So Cambridge-bound passengers had to cross the line twice. Busy line, gates sometimes down for multiple trains, only concern by Network Rail was not being hit for delay minutes by the TOCs if they didn't give clear signals to through trains.

 

[Bletchleyite]

There used to be a subway at Bamber Bridge level crossing but it was closed and filled in in 2005/6.

I actually used Bamber Bridge last weekend and there seems to be quite a problem there - the combination of a crossing that's down a long time and the TVM on only one side (and Northern's obstinate policy on minor ticketing offences) means you would have to arrive perhaps ten minutes in advance of a train towards Blackburn to be sure of being able to get a ticket and get back to the correct side.

 

[Rail Ranger]

Although the majority of passengers would now buy their ticket using an App on their smartphone?

 

[MikeWM]

(Waterbeach) ...although at least that's an AHB crossing so the 'closed' times are fairly short.

...for now, but Network Rail were trying to make it full-barrier, seemingly without considering/caring about this problem, particularly with the way trains are bunched together passing through - especially on Sundays.

Fortunately, at least in the short-term, they've not been granted permission to convert it, at least partly due to this issue.

 

[Alfie1014]

Hythe (Essex)

 

[ac6000cw]

..for now, but Network Rail were trying to make it (Waterbeach) full-barrier, seemingly without considering/caring about this problem, particularly with the way trains are bunched together passing through

I know, and...

Fortunately, at least in the short-term, they've not been granted permission to convert it, at least partly due to this issue.

...I agree - especially as the station is due to move to a new location soon.

 

[foggy69]

Chilworth.

There are a number across the North Downs,
Betchworth, Chilworth, Ash and North Camp.

 

[Whisky Papa]

Stone Crossing, just E of Dartford. My wife and I stayed three nights in the Travelodge just N of the line here a few years back, and used the station quite a few times. The road gates appear permanently closed, with wicket gates for pedestrians, if somebody with local knowledge could confirm?

However, one evening we walked down Church Hill from a local pub after 2200 and found the wicket gate also locked and the keeper's hut unmanned, which suggested it was not just locked for a forthcoming train. It would have been possible to cross illegally via the platform ramps, but as an active rail staff member I obviously did not think this was a good idea. A bridge was visible further E, and a quick check of Google Maps showed a route through a housing estate that took us over the pedestrian bridge which actually came out quite close to the hotel.

There was no notice suggesting the crossing was closed overnight, so is was this the usual situation here?

EDIT - I've just looked at Google Streetview from the N side and realise the whole site has been rebuilt with a footbridge - apologies. The view from the S side dates from 2012, roughly when we visited!

 

[Deepgreen]

My local station, Betchworth, is one of the very. very many like this. On a few occasions when I commuted to London from there I missed my morning train (I cycled to the station) because the barriers were lowered inexplicably early. Another of my previous home stations, Ashtead, has the same issue, but at least there is a secondary entrance on the up side. Barriers there are commonly down for four trains, or nearly ten minutes, and they wonder why people are tempted to jump the lights.

Chilworth.

Yes, an interesting one. There are two crossings, one at the station, which is manually controlled, and a main road one a little way west, which is an AHB. The upshot of this is that the station one must be lowered a very long time before the train(s), to allow signal clearance, while the other one, on a far busier road, comes down very close to the passing of the train(s). This was shown very starkly to me last year when a steam working was running and the station crossing at Chilworth was lowered a full five minutes before the train even came into view, while the 'A' road AHB came down at the last moment.

 

[liamf656]

I feel like this is going to be a  very long thread but I'll put in my contributions anyway

Notts to Lincoln and the Marston Vale have a few each