{"id":52889,"date":"2024-05-24T22:38:29","date_gmt":"2024-05-24T12:38:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=52889"},"modified":"2024-05-24T22:38:29","modified_gmt":"2024-05-24T12:38:29","slug":"network-rail-warns-against-level-crossing-misuse-in-west-midlands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=52889","title":{"rendered":"Network Rail warns against level crossing misuse in West Midlands"},"content":{"rendered":"

Network Rail<\/a> is urging people across the West Midlands to use level crossings correctly after a near miss close to a Black Country station.<\/p>\n

Footage<\/a> released by the infrastructure manager shows a man deliberately climbing over closed level crossing barriers and walking across the tracks. Seconds later, a train passes through.<\/p>\n

The near miss happened on Station Road in Langley Green where there has been a recent increase in the number of incidents of people choosing to deliberately misuse the busy level crossing, risking their lives to save a few minutes of time.<\/p>\n

Network Rail has released the video of the near miss on Station Road crossing, near Langley Green station, as a safety warning and is asking local people to only ever cross when the barriers are up and the warning alarms aren\u2019t sounding.<\/p>\n

The incident, which took place on 27 April 2024, is one example of misuse captured at this crossing and others across the West Midlands.<\/p>\n

Since January of this year, there have been 74 reported instances of level crossing misuse across the West Midlands region, with eight recorded at Langley Green.<\/p>\n

Natalie Stretton, Head of Operational Risk for Network Rail\u2019s Central route, said: \u201cThis footage at Langley Green is extremely disappointing and concerning. Moments later and this could have led to tragedy, which doesn\u2019t bear thinking about for the sake of a few minutes.<\/p>\n

\u201cDespite the clear and obvious dangers of not using level crossings correctly, and all the work we do to educate people about how to use them, it seems people still want to risk their lives. I can\u2019t stress enough the importance of following the rules to help keep everyone safe.\u201d<\/p>\n

Network Rail will be delivering safety leaflets to residents around Langley Green as well as continuing to run awareness days across the region as part of an ongoing safety push regarding level crossings.<\/p>\n

To use level crossings safely, people should:<\/p>\n

Concentrate \u2013 it\u2019s easy to get distracted, especially by phones, music and conversation.<\/p>\n

Always follow signs and instructions displayed at level crossings.<\/p>\n

Check both ways before crossing \u2013 if there is a train coming, don\u2019t cross.<\/p>\n

Understand the warnings which alert when a train approaching (lights, barriers, alarms)<\/p>\n

Cross quickly, keeping children close and dogs on a lead.<\/p>\n

This warning comes as Network Rail launches a new \u2018You\u2019ve crossed the line\u2019 safety campaign, which aims to make footpath level crossing users more aware of their surroundings and the potential dangers. For more information about the campaign and for further advice on level crossing safety visit\u00a0www.networkrail.co.uk\/distracted<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Network Rail is urging people across the West Midlands to use level crossings correctly after a near miss close to a Black Country station. Footage […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":52890,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","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],"tags":[7,11],"class_list":["post-52889","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rail-news","tag-transport","tag-usa"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52889","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"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=52889"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52889\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/52890"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=52889"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=52889"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=52889"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}