Level crossing row rumbles on (From Sutton Guardian)

Level crossing row rumbles on

6:34am Sunday 29th June 2003

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THE row over Highams Park level crossing developed this week when it was revealed the workload on signalmen may be too much to handle.

The notorious crossing has left a number of people battered and bruised when the barriers struck them as they were lowered.

A report in last week's Guardian highlighted the plight of Walthamstow pensioner Emily Brewer who got trapped inside the gates while two trains flew by just inches away.

Another pensioner, from Sky Peals Road, Woodford Green, has this week been hit by the barrier.

The 87-year-old, who did not want to be named, was cut on the head on Monday when the barriers came down. He was helped home by a kindly van driver.

Members of the Highams Park Community Forum have now written to the Government calling for better safety at the crossing.

An employee of Network Rail, the group in charge of the crossing, has lifted the lid on how the service is currently managed.

The worker, who did not want to be named for fear of reprisal, claims that all lines north of Bethnal Green are monitored by just two people at Liverpool Street Station.

He hinted that the job may be too much for two workers.

The man suggested signallers would have to take their focus off the barriers if a short-term alteration had to be made, such as to delay a Chingford train at Clapton to allow a late-running Stansted Express to pass.

He added: "It is the view of a number of my signalmen friends that Highams Park residents were 'spoilt' over the years by the old crossing keepers.

"They, as a matter of course, held the barriers up longer than the present descent time to allow people, walking after the alarms were set off, to get clear.

"The Highams Park Community Forum should be asking the Railway Inspectorate to check the sequence on the ground, to check that it is performing to the regulations, and to go into Liverpool Street signalling centre to satisfy themselves that the workload on staff is such that they are able to give sufficient attention to the crossing at all times."

A Network Rail spokeswoman said that signallers had to look at the CCTV cameras before pressing a button to allow a train through. She highlighted the fact that the level crossing had been approved by the Railway Inspectorate since Easter 2002.

She added: "These incidents are just mis-use of the level crossing. You should not start trying to cross if the lights are flashing and the sirens are on.

"At the time we started running the level crossing from Liverpool Street we had a leaflet campaign in schools and for local residents to tell them how to use the crossing properly.

"There is at least 29 seconds from the warning lights before the barrier comes down and the signaller must check the CCTV to make sure no one is trapped inside the barrier before letting the train through.

"We have interviewed the train driver and signaller about last week's incident. Neither one recalls seeing anybody inside the barrier. The signallers always look at their screens before pressing the button to allow the train through."

The Guardian has timed the barriers several times in the past week. On each occasion, the first gate started to descend in under ten seconds and the barrier was fully closed in under 20 seconds.

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