Earlier this year, a young child sadly lost his life at Bourneview footpath crossing. Our thoughts are with his family, friends, and all those affected.
We wanted to let residents know about upcoming railway safety improvements at Bourneview footpath crossing. Back in July, the crossing was temporarily closed while initial safety measures were installed, and we’ve now received notice of the full programme of works.
On Monday 3rd November, the Rail Accident Investigation Branch published its investigation on the tragic accident that took place earlier this year. You can read it here. The report made three main recommendations:
- For curriculum setters for schools throughout the United Kingdom to work with railway infrastructure managers to introduce targeted and locally relevant railway safety lessons to pupils of all ages
- To make the dangerous area at level crossings more noticeable, particularly to people whose attention may be distracted
- To understand the risk profile of younger people and whether this warrants different approaches to risk mitigation at level crossings.
The steps that Network Rail are taking as a result of these recommendations are:
From early November, Network Rail will begin installing Miniature Stop Lights (MSLs) — small, easy-to-understand signals that show a red or green light, along with a warning sound, to let people know when it’s safe to cross.
The crossing is currently closed and will remain so until the system is live. Signposted alternative routes are available via New Barn Lane and Hayes Lane near Kenley Station.
This upgrade follows a deeply tragic incident in January, when a young child was fatally injured at the crossing while on his way to school. Our thoughts continue to be with his family, friends, and all affected by this heart breaking event.
Bourneview is one of the highest-risk crossings on our Sussex Route, and currently has no active warning system. The new MSLs are designed to make the crossing safer, grab attention and help people make safer choices.
We understand that installation may cause some disruption, particularly due to night and weekend works and the use of train horns to protect staff working on track. Our teams are briefed to work respectfully and keep noise to a minimum.
We’ve worked closely with Croydon Council and listened to local feedback, especially around noise. Before the system goes live, we’ll review sound levels to pedestrians are clearly warned of approaching trains, whilst balancing that against any noise impact to those living nearest the crossing. As we have done in other locations, after a period of usage we will be assessing the audibility of the tones to make adjustments as necessary.
Once the final work is complete, we expect the system to go live on the night of 20 December, subject to successful testing.
See illustration below of a similar system at Burgess Hill.
