MP repeats demand for rail crossing investigation

Newark’s MP has renewed his demand for a full investigation into level crossing failures that have heaped misery on motorists and businesses.

Mr Robert Jenrick said he would continue to push for action following a response to him from Joanna Whittington, chief executive of regulator the Office of Rail and Road (ORR).

It said Network Rail had told it that a number of problems, including failures in design and installation of equipment, and inadequate training for staff, had contributed to issues on the Nottingham to Newark line.

Drivers have suffered significant delays at the Newark Castle, Rolleston, Fiskerton and Staythorpe crossings on several occasions since the line was automated in November last year.

A team is now based in the Newark area, cutting the response time if a barrier is stuck in either the up or down position.

A letter from the ORR to Mr Jenrick said Network Rail had said that in addition to the design and installation failures there were issues with the reliability of the power supply to some of the equipment.

It noted that: “Network Rail staff had not received adequate training in the manual operation of this type of crossing barrier following the new system installation.”

Mr Jenrick said: “I would like to see this resolved as soon as possible, and to see a full investigation from the ORR into what went wrong so that it doesn’t happen again anywhere else.

“I appreciate Network Rail are working hard to resolve the issues.

“But it appears that we find ourselves in a position where staff weren’t trained and there were insufficient staff near to Newark.”

'Components were the newest on the market'

The ORR said it would continue to monitor the progress Network Rail was making against its action plan so it remained focused “in achieving an improved standard of safety and reliability at the crossings.”

Network Rail, which hopes to complete improvement on the line by November, said the same team that worked on the Grantham-Nottingham line also worked on the Newark-Nottingham line.

Responding to the issues of failures in design and installation, a spokesman for Network Rail said: “We would not have fitted stock if we were aware there was a problem. At the time of installation, these components were the newest on the market.

“We did not have a larger stock of components as we were unaware upon installation that the components were less reliable.

“When we install equipment we do so in anticipation that it will work correctly and as such do not spend money stockpiling large amounts of expensive spares.”

The spokesman added that work on the line was progressing as planned.

Network Rail has previously also stressed that drivers should take care when approaching level crossings, noting that they should not cross if the barriers are up but the warning lights are flashing red. Trains only pass, at a low speed, when given approval by a controller in Derby.