{"id":201485,"date":"2025-04-17T18:43:00","date_gmt":"2025-04-17T08:43:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/railuk.com\/?p=176640"},"modified":"2025-04-17T18:43:00","modified_gmt":"2025-04-17T08:43:00","slug":"safety-message-issued-after-fife-level-crossing-misuse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=201485","title":{"rendered":"Safety message issued after Fife level crossing misuse"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Network Rail Scotland and the British Transport Police (BTP) are raising awareness of the dangers of misusing level crossings, after multiple incidents at a crossing in Fife involving delivery vehicles. <\/p>\n

Hospital Mill level crossing near Springfield is a private level crossing, manually operated by those using it. Drivers are instructed to lift the barrier, cross safely, and lower it again once on the other side. They must not attempt to cross when automatic warning lights and alarms indicate an approaching train. <\/p>\n

In the last five years, more than 150 incidents have been recorded at Hospital Mill where users leave the barriers raised. Eighteen incidents have taken place since the start of 2025. There have also been two near misses where drivers of approaching trains had to sound the horn and apply the brakes because vehicles drove onto the crossing despite the warning lights and alarms. <\/p>\n

More than 70 trains pass the crossing every day at speeds of up to 85mph. New signs to help people use the crossing safely, including more prominent reminders to lower the barriers after crossing, were installed in 2025. <\/p>\n

Steven Griffin, Level Crossing Manager at Network Rail Scotland said:<\/strong> \u201cIt\u2019s alarming to see people put themselves and the travelling public in such danger by ignoring the warning lights at a level crossing.  <\/p>\n

\u201cThe rules on using Hospital Mill level crossing are not optional. They clearly set out when it\u2019s safe to cross and when it\u2019s not. Too often, we\u2019re seeing these rules, and ultimately safety, completely disregarded.  <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re urging all users to be sensible, avoid unnecessary risk, and use level crossings responsibly. We\u2019ve written to the authorised users of Hospital Mill level crossing, reminding them of their duty to instruct visitors to their homes and delivery drivers on its safe use.\u201d <\/p>\n

Inspector Ashley Forbes from the British Transport Police added: <\/strong>\u201cThere is simply no excuse for misusing a level crossing and ignoring safety procedures. Trying to beat the system or failing to pay attention not only puts your own life at risk, but also the lives of the passengers and staff of the oncoming train. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe railways can be incredibly dangerous, which is why people need to do the right thing when using railway level crossings and treat them with respect. If you see anyone failing to adhere to the safety procedures and putting themselves and others in harm\u2019s way, I urge you to report it to us by texting 61016 or by calling us. Always dial 999 in an emergency.\u201d <\/p>\n

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Image credit: Network Rail<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Network Rail Scotland and the British Transport Police (BTP) are raising awareness of the dangers of misusing level crossings, after multiple incidents at a crossing in Fife involving delivery vehicles.\u00a0 Hospital Mill level crossing near Springfield is a private level crossing, manually operated by those using it. Drivers are instructed to lift the barrier, cross [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":1,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[47,85],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-201485","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rail-news","category-uk"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201485","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=201485"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201485\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":204119,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201485\/revisions\/204119"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=201485"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=201485"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=201485"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}