[article] Narrow escape for motorist as train passes through raised crossing

[ThomasJ]

Narrow escape for motorist as train passes through raised crossing
By Seán McCárthaigh

Monday, June 22, 2009

A MOTORIST narrowly escaped death after an Iarnród Éireann train passed through raised barriers at a notorious railway crossing in Co Roscommon last year, it has emerged.

A report by the Railway Accident Investigation Unit describes the incident at the Ballymurray level crossing on the Athlone-Westport railway line as a "near miss".

CCTV footage from a safety camera located at the level crossing dramatically shows that one car passed through it approximately two seconds before the train passed at around 70mph, while another car approached the crossing but came to a stop just in time.

The incident happened at around 8.54am on June 14, 2008, when an empty train travelling from Manulla Junction in Co Mayo to Dublin passed through the level crossing at Ballymurray, Co Roscommon.

The crossing, which is located on the N61 route between Roscommon town and Athlone, has a history of broad traffic-related incidents. Over the past decade, 11 incidents, including six near misses, have been reported at the Ballymurray level crossing, although none were directly related to maintenance works carried out by Iarnród Éireann. Most accidents involved the barriers being hit by trucks and other large vehicles.

Investigators from the Railway Safety Commission found that the automatic half-barriers located on either side of the crossing had been raised to allow maintenance work to be carried out.

They blamed the near-fatal incident on poor communications between staff involved in the maintenance of the barriers which had led to a misunderstanding of the safety margin between trains.

"Staff had worked together regularly in the past and this familiarity led to an informal approach to communications and therefore did not follow communication procedures," said the report.

It emerged that one of the maintenance staff phoned the line signalman based in Athlone at 7.49am and was informed that he had approximately 30 minutes to carry out the maintenance work.

At 8.53am, the signalman advised the linesman that a train would pass the crossing very shortly and he could work away after it had passed.

A minute later the barriers were automatically lowered because of the imminent arrival of the train. However, the linesman switched the barriers to manual at the same time which resulted in the barriers being raised and the extinguishing of warning lights to oncoming road traffic.

Although the linesman was immediately alerted by an alarm and switched the barriers back to automatic, it did not allow time for the barriers to be lowered.

The train driver made an emergency brake application on seeing the car pass through the level crossing and the train came to a halt on the far side of the crossing.

The report did not comment on whether the driver of the vehicle was aware of how close they had come to a major accident.

Alcohol and drugs tests on both the signalman and linesman proved negative.

The investigators criticised Iarnród Éireann for its lack of formal procedures for the maintenance of automatic half-barriers and for having no specific risk assessment for carrying out such work.



This story appeared in the printed version of the Irish Examiner Monday, June 22, 2009

Irish Examiner
http://www.examiner.ie/ireland/narro...ing-94637.html

[Mark Gleeson]

Report yet again doesn't make for comfortable reading

Full details http://pdb.era.europa.eu/pdb/safety_...w.aspx?id=1332

Again lax procedures put the public at serious risk

[zag]

Surely shome mishtake . . . we don't have any trains left that go at 70mph do we ? Whatever happened to kmph anyway ?

But seriously, the barriers were at raised from 0749 with an agreed window of 30m. Over 60m later the signalman advises there's a train on the way (I can think of some choice words for the conversation) and the barriers come down.

Next thing the linesman switches them to manual and raises them . . . having just been told there was a train on the way. I mean, really . . .



z

[ThomasJ]

I hope the linesman got a serious telling off.... Theres being lx and theres being too casual but it is beyond that to the level that its resulting in them putting people lives at risk, had the consequences being greater who would have got the blame for this and stand up in court?

Just as an aside I note that in the report it mentioned that there are quiet a number of incidents at that crossing and that a report had mentioned this crossing as a cause of concern... why no action?

[Mark Gleeson]

All rail speed limits are expressed in mph (even though the DART speedometers only show kph)

The report does not indicate the speed of the train but, it probably would be in the region of 50-60mph, the blackbox didn't appear to have been downloaded.

Every level crossing has a history, but in this case Irish Rail where at fault.

If you think this report is scary just wait to read the one from the incident in Waterford, that will be really scary, but its 10 months away from publication

[Mark Hennessy]

Indo today carries a pretty scary picture of a near miss.

Do these crossings have any barriers?

http://www.independent.ie/national-n...g-1789214.html

[Thomas Ralph]

Most of the level crossings in question are unattended, with manual gates. There's normally a lineside phone on either side, and people crossing are supposed to ring the signalman before going through.

[Mark Gleeson]

The number of gates left open on the Sligo line is fairly scary

[Colm Moore]

Electronic gate locks?