Top rail boss to visit Newark over level crossing fears

The head of the national rail regulator is to make a personal visit to ensure problems at level crossings on the Nottingham to Lincoln line through Newark are over.

Traffic chaos was caused in Newark when the crossing barriers at Castle station stuck in the closed postion while at Rolleston they stayed open, even as trains passed through.

Mr Ian Prosser, chief inspector of railways, wants to know if lessons could be learned to prevent a repeat of the problems when other crossings in the country are automated by Network Rail.

He met Newark MP Mr Robert Jenrick and the leader of Newark and Sherwood District Council, Mr Roger Blaney, in Westminster over the problems, which started when the line was automated 12 months ago.

Mr Jenrick said he received an undertaking from Mr Prosser that Network Rail would be held to account over the incidents, which the MP described as life-threatening.

Network Rail, who said safety measures were in place to prevent a collision, has had a dedicated team working to fix the issues.

Mr Prosser’s visit later this month will include the Castle and Rolleston crossings.

'Anger and frustration'

Mr Jenrick said Mr Prosser had agreed to dispatch the best experts in the land to assess the crossings to ensure they worked properly.

The experts will also look at the time the barriers at Castle remain in the downward position to try to reduce queueing in Newark town centre.

Mr Jenrick said the issue had not been taken seriously enough in the past.

“I wanted Mr Prosser to understand the anger and frustration at living with this,” said Mr Jenrick.

“It is important for him to hear first-hand how terrible a situation it has been for residents.”

Mr Jenrick said whether barriers were trapped in the upright or down position, it represented a public safety issue, either on the line or because emergency services might be delayed.

“The fact there has not been a serious injury or fatality has been luck,” he said.

Mr Blaney said: “The office of the inspector of railways signed off £48m of expenditure of public money on this upgrade, but there did not appear to be a culture, or requirement, in Network Rail that, when they realised there were problems, to notify the office.

“It seems there wasn’t any culture within the inspectorate, having signed off this upgrade to ask how it was going — has it been incident free?”

Mr Blaney said Mr Prosser’s department became aware of issues only after a letter he sent in March. A letter from Averham, Kelham and Staythorpe Parish Council in July informed them the issues were continuing.

'There was a lack of urgency'

“I am very concerned they did not appear to be monitoring the situation until the end of July,” Mr Blaney said.

“There was a lack of urgency, even when they were aware of the problems.

“It took another seven weeks for HM Inspectorate to come up to Newark to meet Network Rail on the ground.

“Mr Prosser seemed to accept this criticism.

“The horse has bolted on this line but, after 12 months of sorting out these problems, it is absolutely crucial for other communities elsewhere in the country.”

Mr Prosser said: “We are well aware of the issues at a number of level crossings and know that they are causing serious inconvenience and frustration to people living in the area.

“At our request, Network Rail provided us with an analysis of the causes of failure and an action plan outlining how they intend to deal with the problems.

“I will be visiting the sites to inspect progress this month and my colleagues will continue closely monitoring Network Rail’s ongoing work.”

A Network Rail spokesman said: “Over the past few months we have had a dedicated team working on the issues at level crossings in the Newark area and we hope that residents have noticed a reduction in incidents during this time.

“However, we are not complacent and recognise more work needs to be done. We will continue our investigations into the problems while working closely with our stakeholders.”