Dave Thompson MSP

Highlands and Islands MSP Dave Thompson has criticised the approach of the organisation responsible for overseeing safety on Scotland's railways after it said no action was needed following the latest in string of malfunctions at an ungated level crossing near Inverness.

Mr Thompson, who has run a long campaign for the public to be protected by the addition of barriers at the 21 level crossings in the Highlands that are not protected by these, was contacted by a constituent to report a malfunction at the level crossing at Bunchrew, near Inverness, just as residents were leaving to drive to work on Monday November 8.

At 8.45am, three residents stopped at the crossing when they saw that the junction's red stop lights were flashing. However, after waiting for several minutes to allow a train to pass, they realised that no train was coming so they nervously made their way across after a visual check that nothing was coming along the rail line.

Following the unnerving incident, the residents decided to report the signal malfunction to the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) because of a series of earlier incidents at the crossing and within days they were pleased to see their contact had resulted in a speedy response.

However when they read that response, the residents were further concerned to see that it consisted mainly of an explanation for the malfunction of the signal and an assurance that no further action was necessary.

They were so disappointed that they immediately contacted Mr Thompson (SNP) to pass on their fear that unreliable signals could lead to a serious accident.

"I have to say I was as disappointed as my constituents when I saw the response of the ORR," Mr Thompson said. "Their complacency when dealing with a faulty signal at a level crossing where people have been hurt in previous incidents does little to reassure the public that they are in safe hands.

"I would hope that the ORR gives this matter and the need to reassure the public its full attention as it is important that public confidence in our railway is not lost.

"People must be able to have complete confidence in signals on such a dangerous junction otherwise they will start to question them and possibly even fail to stop when a train is passing.

"It is vital that the Office of Rail Regulation steps in to compel Network Rail to take action to get to the bottom of these repeated reports of signal failure at this level crossing and fix it before someone else is injured or even killed or, better still, instruct Network Rail to put in barriers."

Note:

Emails discussing the incident:
[Names of the constituents concerned have been removed]

Dear Mr Xxxx,
David Whitmarsh forwarded to me your message regarding the incident that occurred at Bunchrew level crossing on 8 November 2010.

I have discussed the issue with Network Rail and am satisfied that the integrity of the level crossing protective measures were not compromised in a manner that put users at risk.

Environmental conditions, combined with very heavy rail head contamination caused the red 'stop' lights to flash when there was no train approaching. In such circumstances, when these red 'stop' lights are activated by some means other than an approaching train, they are designed to switch off after a fixed period of time. Should a train approach during this period, the red 'stop' lights will remain active thus protecting road users. At all times the train driver's indication continues to informs them of the status of the red 'stop' lights and whether they must stop their train prior to passing over the crossing.

Should the crossing fail in such a manner that the red 'stop' lights do not activate as a train approaches the crossing, the train driver's indication again tells the train driver of the status of the red 'stop' lights and that they must stop the train prior to the level crossing.

Network Rail are increasing the frequency of the rail head treatment on the approaches to the level crossing during the leaf fall period to reduce the likelihood of a re-occurrence of the incident that Mrs Brown and yourself witnessed.

Thank you for bring this incident to our attention.

Yours sincerely
Ian A Skinner
HM Inspector of Railways
Office of Rail Regulation

To: Skinner, Ian
Subject: FW: Bunchrew Level Crossing

Ian,
Message received from local resident about Monday's right side failure at Bunchrew. I have acknowledged the e-mail and told Mr. Bryan that I have passed it on to you as in your area. Cheers,
David Whitmarsh
h.m. inspector of railways
Scotland railway safety directorate, office of rail regulation



Dear Mr Whitmarsh,
I am writing to inform you that my wife and I along with a neighbour, Mrs Brown, where witnesses to a warning light failure at Bunchrew Level Crossing at 0845 on Monday 8th November.

We noted that the red 'stop' lights were already flashing as we rounded the bend coming downhill from Englishton Muir. After stopping to await for a train to cross in became increasingly apparent that the customary time between lights operating and a train passing had been exceeded. We continued to wait, unsure what to do, when the lights extinguished for no apparent reason. Extreme caution was then taken to cross the track. At no time was there any sign of a train.

Later I spoke to Mrs Brown who had reported the incident. This again raises our concerns over the integrity of the system. What if the failure had been to signal the line clear with a train approaching? Lives and reputations are at stake.

Yours sincerely
Xxxxx