West Somerset Railway General Discussion

For £850k, I would certainly hope so. Or is it £425,000 per additional barrier?
But I can't help thinking that the SCC has better things to do with that kind of money.

Edited - I stand somewhat corrected. It's worn out!
Looks like it's staying single track, though.
There's a better explanation here:

http://democracy.somerset.gov.uk/documents/s5626/Appendix Bii.pdf

 

This forum is not the place to discuss the safety history of Seaward Way.

It’s probably enough to note the considerable increase in both vehicle and pedestrian traffic since the present crossing was installed in the open fields approaching 30 years ago and the safety benefits of having full barriers.

Robin

 

Noted - my post is edited.

 

WSR is great again. Loving the 1940s weekend.

 

The SVR Fares page says:

Reciprocal Travel Scheme

On production of valid Staff Pass from a Railway in our Reciprocal Travel Scheme, you are are entitled to travel free of charge on days when normal fares apply only. On days where revised fares are in operation (Spring Steam Gala, Spring Diesel Festival, Step Back to the 1940s and Autumn Steam Gala only), you are entitled to travel at the SVR Child Rate.

 

Interesting. Are these to be traditional style wooden gates that close across the track?

 

See this SCC document for more details.

Steve

 

Why not a bridge then? As NR are ripping out crossings as often as they can.
(And no, I have no idea how expensive a bridge is).

 

It would cost a lot more money; it would look awful; and you’d have to close the road for months to build it.

 

Its not specific but does refer to "The costs of the works are estimated at £850K, based on typical National Rail rates for a similar controlled crossing." and also to "...additional barriers (upgrading from two to four)..." and "One benefit of automatic crossings is short road closure period – typically less than 1.5 mins, and no necessity for any operation by railway staff."

So this does appear to be a modern, new full barrier crossing. The new crossing for Norden on Swanage Railway had to meet the same new high standards. Similar figures were discussed. In the end we managed to bring the price down to just over £500K but that option is unlikely to be available to SCC.

 

From that document:

d. Controlled crossings on the other hand are much safer in virtually all environments, but they require full barriers to totally enclose the crossing, and have to be so closed before any train is signalled to pass over the crossing. Typical road closure times are 2-4 minutes.

Then why not go for a traditional, controlled crossing, then?

 

Does anyone know (rather than "Can anyone speculate on") what happens if the barriers come down and a tailback car or a pedestrian gets trapped between the barriers?

 

I assume it will be a modern controlled crossing with full barriers, rather than the current automatic operation. However the SCC report does not say what the method of control will be.

 

The standard NR upgrade is radar to detect any obstruction

 

It's just the same in aviation - a simple example:- A common, everyday transistor = £0.50p . An identical one (same part number, specification, even date of manufacture) with one extra bit of paper for the aviation industry = £4.50. Once an organisation starts insisting that anything to be used has their specific approval mark or documents it's like a license to print money for the manufacturer.

 

The SCC pdf states that there will be a 10 mph. rail clause allowing trains to stop if such a occasion occurs.

 

Any ideas of the costs of routine maintenance (will probably have to be done by 'approved' engineers) or service contracts for call-outs in case of breakdowns etc?

 

That is SCC’s responsibility. I don’t see the relevance to this group as the WSR has no financial responsibility for it.

 

Come to that then, why are we discussing the £850K?

 

Exactly!