Railways: level crossings

This note sets out the responsibilities of relevant bodies for the safety management of level crossings. It also gives information on government policy and regulation and some of the more notable accidents that have occurred on level crossings in recent years.

In the last year for which there are figures, there were 6,652 level crossings on the National Rail Controlled Infrastructure (NRCI). This was a decrease from 2003-04 when there were 7,937 level crossings on the NRCI.

The ORR publishes information about railway safety in the annual National Rail Trends Yearbook. The most recent, for 2010/11, found that incidents of fatalities and serious injuries at level crossings had declined sharply between 2007/08 and 2010/11 (from 9 fatalities and 8 serious injuries to 4 fatalities and 5 serious injuries); minor injuries were also down on 2007/08 but have been at a pretty constant level since 2008/09 (between 18 and 24).

Information on railway safety can be found in HC Library note SN605.