Town in Signal Box removal concerns

By Jonathan Williams

Following the notice that Network Rail are upgrading the level crossings in Llanelli (click here to read the full article.), some concern has been raised in the Town over the manning of the gates.

In a letter to residents on the 9th July, Network Rail informed everyone that their intention was to upgrade the signals and remove the box with control being sited in Port Talbot initially before moving to Cardiff.

However, is this the right action for a crossing that is seen as one of the most dangerous in Wales?

By Network Rail’s own admission, between October 2011 and May 2012, they had logged 39 incidents at Llanelli East and 13 incidents at Llanelli West involving people who try to cross the railway line while the safety barriers are in operation.

Vanessa Marsh, Chair of The Safer Communities Action Group is one who shares these concerns and said:

“The Safer Communities Action Group are very concerned to hear about the proposals from Network Rail to close our signal box and be operated from Cardiff instead.

“We understand that the signal box from Cardiff struggled during the inclement weather a couple of years ago so we are concerned that should those problems reoccur, what assurance will Network Rail give the residents of Llanelli that they can function safely?”

“We are aware that there are many drivers who speed across the gates to avoid delay and are very concerned that should a car get caught, how will the signal box in Cardiff respond?

“Why hasn’t there been consultation?”

“The Safer Communities Action Group will be writing to Network Rail to put these questions to them.”

Mel Edwards, clerk of Llanelli Town Council informed us that:

“Representatives of Network Rail have attended a meeting recently to brief councillors about the proposed works.”

“Members expressed concern at the removal of the signal box but Network Rail gave assurances that safety would not be compromised.”

We contacted Robin Basu, Community Relations Manager for Network rail and he told us that the upgarding works are badly required and when we pressed our safety concerns, we were told that Network Rail aren’t responsible for people misusing the crossings.  He also stated:

“Misuse at the level crossings will only reduce if we focus on the perpetrators and, to this regard, we run national campaigns at schools and within communities.”

“The British Transport Police held an event at Llanelli crossing on 7 June, in line with the international level crossing awareness day (ILCAD) and we are also planning on holding a further awareness day on 14 August.

“Additionally, the new level crossing will also have a Home Office approved red light enforcement camera system in place as part of the renewal which means that successfully prosecuting drivers will become a far simpler process.”

“Furthermore, yellow box road markings should enable us to prosecute drivers who block back on the crossing.”

“Finally, we do not anticipate any increase in barrier down time at the crossing, following commissioning. The crossing operation and train movements at Llanelli will be controlled by the signaller at Port Talbot; one of the key features of having our signalling and crossings operated from the same centre is that it will facilitate prompt decisions on raising barriers within an available timeframe.”

We also asked about the fate of the current crossing keepers and if there would be any redundancies from the signal box and were told:

“In regard to staff working at the crossing, I can confirm that every effort will be made to find any staff who wish to continue working for us a new position within the company. However, as discussed, it is often the case that crossing keepers take their retirement package; this is the case for at least two of the crossing keepers at Llanelli.”

However, it is our understanding that at least one of the keepers is not at retirement age and has to seek redundancy terms.

Network Rail provided Llanelli Town Council with a list of frequently asked questions and we have listed them below:

Llanelli Level Crossing Renewal Q&A

Yellow lines on the road area

We have liaised with Carmarthenshire County Council and have been informed that the necessary paperwork is in place to proceed with the yellow road markings at Copperworks Road on the approach to Llanelli East crossing; the contractor is scheduled to undertake this work on Sunday 3rd August.

Opening of West LX during dedicated ‘peak’ hours of road closures

Our contractors will provide a resource to facilitate pedestrian access across the West crossing between the hours of 07.00hrs – 18.00hrs.

Phone faults at the crossing

The phones are checked and tested once a week to make sure they’re working correctly. If the phone fails for any reason then the NR helpline can be contacted on 08457 11 41 41; the caller will have an option to select a safety related issue and this will be put through as quickly as possible to an operative and logged immediately with our route control team.

Barrier down time at the crossing

We do not anticipate any increase in barrier down time at the crossing, following commissioning. The crossing operation and train movements at Llanelli will be controlled by the signaller at Port Talbot; one of the key features of having our signalling and crossings operated from the same centre is that it will facilitate prompt decisions on raising barriers within an available timeframe.

Protocol for fixing faults at the level crossings

This is dependant on where our maintenance and fault teams are located at any one time; we have a mobile response team for such incidents located in the areas around the Port Talbot and West Wales areas. It is important to note that we expect the new equipment we are commissioning to be far less prone to any faults.

Typically a mobile operations manager (MOM) or the civil police would attend site initially to get traffic moving, if possible, until our teams are able to diagnose and repair the failure; the civil police are usually on site within 10 minutes. They will redirect the traffic via an alternative route but have no authority to allow drivers of road vehicles to pass our emergency red lights.

The MOMs in West Wales work on a two shift basis during the day; night cover is provided by an on call MOM but at night the maintenance and faulting team based at Port Talbot will typically cover failures alongside scheduled maintenance work.

The MOM will book on at either Port Talbot or Carmarthen. We would estimate that no fault should ever take any longer than an hour to respond to and resolve; the only instance when we would anticipate an excess of one hour would be expected at night, and if the MOM was already working at the furthest end of the patch i.e. Llantrisant West.

Safety and misuse at the crossing

Misuse of level crossings will only reduce if we focus on the perpetrators. To this regard, we run national campaigns at schools and within communities. The British Transport Police held an event at the crossing on 7 June, in line with the international level crossing awareness day (ILCAD) and we are also planning on holding a further awareness day on 14 August. Additionally, the new level crossing will also have a Home Office approved red light enforcement camera system in place as part of the renewal which means that successfully prosecuting drivers will become a far simpler process. Furthermore yellow box road markings should enable us to prosecute drivers who block back on the crossing

Pot
ential project delays; inclement weather

We have allowed for some project slippage cause by inclement weather but the nature of these works are unlikely to be particularly effected by weather conditions.

Station Safety

The station is covered by CCTV which is monitored from Arriva Trains Wales control centre in Cardiff; there are also help points on each platform which go through to the same control centre.

Station Appearance

The station canopy is to be repainted as part of a four week program, following the Olympics. Some minor remedial works will also be undertaken during this project.

We spoke to local parent Elizabeth Pearce and asked her what she thought of the plans. She said:

“It does sound very frightening, I know it’s not Network Rails fault if someone jumps the barrier but at the moment the signallers there can sort a problem out straight away. How can they do that from Cardiff?”

“It could just be another example of saving money and making people redundant. Just hope nothing goes wrong!”

If you have any concerns or are interested in this story then please let us know.