On 17-18 October 2024, the UIC Global Level Crossing Network held its 32nd meeting at the kind invitation of ProRail, at the Rail Centre in Amersfoort and in Ede, Netherlands.
Chair Allan Spence opened the session by thanking the hosts Gerard Pool, and Dennis Zivkovic from ProRail. 40 members took part in person or online, with the majority representing European railway infrastructure managers, research centres, academic institutions, as well as the Danish and Portuguese National Safety Authorities, and more globally the US Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), Operation Lifesaver Canada, Trenes Argentinos, and JR East.
The Chair also welcomed three new members into the 58-member strong working group:
- Lisandro Lopez Piñero, from the Argentinian Transport Safety Board (JST)
- Alejandro Leonetti, from Trenes Argentinos
- Mathias Wittwer, from the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB/CFF/FFS)
Spence went on to remind the audience of the successful meeting hosted by FFE/ADIF in March 2024 in Spain, and of the inspiring and educational sessions for children held at the Spanish Railway Museum in Madrid.
One of SNCF Réseau’s initiatives was also shared, in which, for the first time in the history of the well-known Salon de l’Automobile in Paris (one of the largest in the world), a vehicle involved in a level crossing collision (no reported casualties) was exhibited to raise awareness of the risks at level crossings if the users do not respect the traffic signs and signals, for whatever reason.
A wide range of presentations from Europe, Japan, Canada, the USA and Argentina were also given, with good practices on risk assessment methods, engineering, education and enforcement measures being shared.
Prof. Danijela Baric, University of Zagreb, Faculty of Transport and Traffic Sciences shared information on a project on the prevention of cars crashing into half-barriers on level crossings in Croatia and proposals for new road markings.
Robert Wainwright, Network Rail, then gave an overview of level crossing safety in Great Britain.
Next, Zivkovic (Prorail) gave a demonstration of a dashboard with the new Dutch Level Crossing Risk Model, a data driven model that provides insight into the chances of accidents and risks of fatalities at level crossings on passenger rail networks, plotted for different types of level crossing users. He also showed a very short ProRail awareness video (Rood licht? Maak de juiste inschatting rondom een spoorwegovergang.) to grab attention and show the perception of risks.
Antoine Gavel, LC Technical Programme Leader at SNCF Réseau also shared information on innovations to improve safety at level crossings on the French network, with Wittwer (SBB/CFF/FFS) giving an overview of level crossings in Switzerland.
Subsequently, Leonetti (Trenes Argentinos) gave an insight of level crossing safety in Argentina, including engineering, education and enforcement measures and Oliver Groß, LC Technics and Signals, DB InfraGO AG, shared an example of a large-scale project related to a level crossing at a roundabout in Germany.
Anders Linnerud, IKT Traffic Service Manager, and Petter Tuft, Project Manager at Bane NOR, Norway, provided information on the latest AI technology developments to detect obstacles at level crossings.
Finally, Chris Day, Interim Director General at Operation Lifesaver Canada, gave an update on the Rail Safety Week in September 2024 and level crossing safety data, and awareness initiatives in Canada.
At the end of the first day, the group had the opportunity to visit ProRail’s Incident Response Centre (ICB) that takes action in the event of incidents on the railway. ICB staff ensure that the track is cleared as quickly as possible after an incident, with specially equipped vehicles that allow them to access hard-to-reach places. They are also trained in the handling of hazardous substances.
On the second day, a visit to the brand new station of Ede was organised, with a presentation being given by the project managers on the extensive integrated project, which focuses on increased pedestrian mobility (easy access, parking for bicycles, buses, cars, removal of level crossings, creation of underpasses, bridges and so on).
The meeting then continued with Francisco Cabrera, UIC, reminding the audience that the “UIC Guidance on level crossing risk assessment” is available in English (+ related e-news article), French, and Spanish. He also shared the results of a questionnaire on possible amendments to this document as well as proposing a new IRS on level crossings to replace the 3 existing ones.
Isabelle Fonverne, UIC, proposed a draft questionnaire on level crossing closure times, with the aim of presenting the results at the next meeting.
Francesco Bedini Jacobini, Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), gave a presentation on how level crossings in the USA are scanned using a LiDAR camera system mounted on FRA’s inspection car, with the methodology, initial statistics on vertical profiles and measured intersecting angles with roadways crossing the railways being shared, as well as a vision of how the data will be made available to the public.
Then, Takashi Otani, East Japan Railways, discussed level crossing equipment for safe behaviour, sharing some of his company’s best practices, train direction indicators, omni-directional warning lights, and obstruction indicators.
Finally, Fonverne gave an overview of the 2024 ILCAD/TRESPAD events and shared the dates for 2025:
- The TRESPAD (Trespass Prevention Awareness Day) campaign is planned for 4 June 2025
- The ILCAD (International Level Crossing Awareness Day) campaign will then follow on 5 June 2025
The theme for ILCAD and TRESPAD will potentially be on “Helping people make good decisions” (tbc), with the 2025 slogan being “Good decisions - for safety every time” (tbc).
The international conferences to launch both campaigns will take place at the National Railway Museum of York, Great Britan, followed by technical visits and social events on 6 June 2025. These events will be hosted by Network Rail and RSSB as part of the celebration of the 200th anniversary of the modern railway.
Registration and calls for papers are to follow for both conferences at www.ilcad.org and www.trespad.org.
The next GLCN meeting will be held on 6-7 March 2025, and hosted by IP in Lisbon, Portugal.
