Trivia: busiest British street divided by an operational level crossing?

[greatkingrat]

I've found the original NR spreadsheet with the level crossing usage figures so the top 10 by pedestrian/cyclist use are

1. Lincoln High Street - 25569
2. Paignton North - 17885
3. Poole - 15423
4. Brayford (Lincoln) - 11188
5. Bridlington Quay - 8959
6. Grays - 7666
7. Boston West Street - 7074
8. Portslade - 6264
9. Acton Central - 5805
10. Highams Park - 4941

 

[Carbean]

Reigate level crossing causes long traffic jams in town if closed for any length of time.

 

[NeilCr]

IIRC there is an (albeit not well used) underpass at St Dunstans / Canterbury West.

I've walked across that crossing a few times and never noticed the underpass. Not to say it's not there!

There is a (pretty grotty) underpass in the station itself between platforms as an alternative to the rather steep stepped bridge

 

[83G/84D]

Chichester has two level crossings by the station in the centre of the town.

 

[dosbod stuey]

Reigate level crossing causes long traffic jams in town if closed for any length of time.

Same in Redcar and Llanbadarn (Aberystwyth).

 

[Chilternblue]

Until the early seventies, Poole had two level crossings within about 200 yards of the station, until the Hunger Hill flyover was built.

 

[Scotrail84]

Cornton vale just North of Stirling can be busy.

 

[Deepgreen]

Reigate level crossing causes long traffic jams in town if closed for any length of time.

Yes it does, and some of those are entirely avoidable.

It's common for the level crossing to be closed when a GWR WB train is approaching from Redhill, presumably such that it has a green aspect to approach Reigate. However, having a green aspect is pointless as every GWR train stops at the station anyway!

Approaching Southern trains, which terminate at the same signal, do not have the level crossing closed for them, and I assume the risk of over-run is the same for both TOCs!

I have seen ambulances with 'blues and twos' going held at the crossing while a train has approached, stopped for passengers and left again!

What makes all this so much worse is that the crossing is controlled by the signal box on site, not remotely where less observation of the on-site situation is possible!

 

[rf_ioliver]

Lincoln springs to mind and St Dunstans in Canterbury is also in with a shout.

Is the pedestrian tunnel still in operation at Canterbury? When I lived there it always stank of pee....never used it.

 

[Enthusiast]

IIRC there is an (albeit not well used) underpass at St Dunstans / Canterbury West.

I've walked across that crossing a few times and never noticed the underpass. Not to say it's not there!

There is a (pretty grotty) underpass in the station itself between platforms as an alternative to the rather steep stepped bridge

Yes there is a pedestrian underpass. It is about three feet wide - very cosy! I always wait for the crossing to open.

 

[NeilCr]

Yes there is a pedestrian underpass. It is about three feet wide - very cosy! I always wait for the crossing to open.

I probably didn’t notice it because I’ve usually just come out of the pub there. Think it’s The Unicorn

Certainly never noticed anyone disappearing in a downward direction, anyway

 

[trainophile]

What I remember most about Lincoln was the length of the freight trains that had to pass through. They seemed never ending when waiting for the barriers to be raised. It’s obviously a very popular freight route.

 

[norbitonflyer]

What I remember most about Lincoln was the length of the freight trains that had to pass through. They seemed never ending when waiting for the barriers to be raised. It’s obviously a very popular freight route.

Not popular with the citizens of Lincoln! And the Wennington diveunder has made things worse. (as has the closure of St Marks station, as trains which used to terminate short of the High Street now have to cross it - (St Marks was on the west side of the High Street, central statoin is about 200 yards further north, and on the east side).

It was a very short-sighted move of the City Council to sell off the trackbed of the avoiding line when it closed in the 1980s. It used to be very busy even back in the 1970s, especially before the direct March-Spalding connection was closed - another expensive mistake, as the Wennington diveunder eventually had to be built to remove the resulting conflicts at Peterborough.

 

[TravellingPhil]

With regards to tailbacks, Oulton Broad North used to be quite bad before the signalling was upgraded. Don't know if there's been an improvement since, haven't been there in many years.

The traffic problem would be further compounded if the bascule bridge went up in Lowestoft. The harbour and the railway when working in perfect synchrony could chop the whole town in half!

 

[Mikey C]

Yes there is a pedestrian underpass. It is about three feet wide - very cosy! I always wait for the crossing to open.

It's a very tight location, with no room for anything better!

https://www.google.com/maps/@51.282...ZEnCw!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?authuser=0&entry=ttu

 

[Dr_Paul]

Mortlake can get pretty busy with pedestrians, though there is a footbridge.

I think we have two criteria operating in this thread: firstly, the amount of road traffic that uses each crossing; secondly, the frequency of trains going across the crossing. Mortlake and the other crossings on the Windsor Line can have over a dozen trains an hour much of the day, but none of the roads that cross the line on crossings are A roads. Crossings on A roads may well have heavier traffic, but considerably fewer trains.

With regards to tailbacks, Oulton Broad North used to be quite bad before the signalling was upgraded. Don't know if there's been an improvement since, haven't been there in many years.

The traffic problem would be further compounded if the bascule bridge went up in Lowestoft. The harbour and the railway when working in perfect synchrony could chop the whole town in half!

One day when I was up in Lowestoft, both the Lowestoft and Oulton Broad road bridges jammed closed to road traffic: anyone wanting to drive from north to south Lowestoft was obliged to go via Beccles and Reedham, a very long diversion.

 

[BayPaul]

Given the very high usage of the Paignton crossing, and how keen Network rail are to remove them to improve safety, I'm surprised that the station hasn't been moved to the other side of the road. It looks like there's space to squeeze in a pair of platforms, with the ticket office in the Poundland building. You would still need the crossing to access the steam railway and Goodrington Yard, but with an improved track layout north of the station to allow both platforms to be used by any train the crossing would probably only need to close a couple of times a day.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

I think we have two criteria operating in this thread: firstly, the amount of road traffic that uses each crossing; secondly, the frequency of trains going across the crossing.

Just to clarify, didn't the OP specify 'busiest' in terms of pedestrians and/or cyclists, and not just motor vehicles?

 

[LickeyIncliner]

Just to clarify, didn't the OP specify 'busiest' in terms of pedestrians and/or cyclists, and not just motor vehicles?

I specified in terms of of pedestrians and/or cyclists, not motor vehicles ! And post #31 at the top of this page gives a definitive answer (sorry for being slow to respond to that).

 

[trainophile]

It's a shame the main B&B area in Paignton is the "wrong" side of the crossing. I'm always anxious in case the barriers are down when I'm going to catch my train home. Not so bad using the bridge/s with a backpack and hand luggage, but people with large suitcases would struggle. It's worrying when they remain down for a second train arriving, if the time of your train's departure is getting close.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

At least there is an overbridge at Paignton. At many other stations, there is neither a lift/subway/underpass or overbridge, so, once the LC barriers have come down, you're going to be waiting, and if you're on the "wrong" side for your train, you're likely to have missed it.

 

[Scotty]

At Boston West street, you can theoretically go into the station, over the footbridge and back out again the other side if you really wanted to...

 

[norbitonflyer]

I've found the original NR spreadsheet with the level crossing usage figures so the top 10 by pedestrian/cyclist use are

1. Lincoln High Street - 25569
2. Paignton North - 17885
3. Poole - 15423
4. Brayford (Lincoln) - 11188
5. Bridlington Quay - 8959
6. Grays - 7666
7. Boston West Street - 7074
8. Portslade - 6264
9. Acton Central - 5805
10. Highams Park - 4941

The two Lincoln crossings are barely 100 metres apart and could easily be simlutaneously obstructed by a 5-car Azuma, let alone the long freight trains that trundle through, On more than one occasion a breakdown has done just that, effectively cutting the city centre in half. (There are only two other crossing of the railway within the city boundary)
The two Lincoln crossings taken together have more pedestrian/cycle traffic (36757) than any two other crossings put together (33308)

 

[Meerkat]

The two Lincoln crossings are barely 100 metres apart and could easily be simlutaneously obstructed by a 5-car Azuma, let alone the long freight trains that trundle through, On more than one occasion a breakdown has done just that, effectively cutting the city centre in half. (There are only two other crossing of the railway within the city boundary)
The two Lincoln crossings taken together have more pedestrian/cycle traffic (36757) than any two other crossings put together (33308)

Lincoln High Street has a relatively modern wide footbridge with lifts right next to it.

 

[TheTallOne]

Lincoln high street a few weeks ago - can just about see the steps/lift to the left.

 

[wnr1990]

Foxton during rush hour on the A10

 

[D6130]

Not strictly-speaking in Great Britain, but in the UK....Coleraine in Northern Ireland. The crossing at the North end of the station is right on the junction of two busy main roads and has two barriers on the town centre side and four on the other. I'm afraid I can't find a photo, but others may be able to do so.

 

[Carbean]

Slight drift but RAF Ballykelly in Northern Ireland, had a runway laid across the railway tracks. Not sure who had priority, signals stopped trains when aircraft were moving or air traffic stopped take offs and landings when notified train was near?

 

[D6130]

Slight drift but RAF Ballykelly in Northern Ireland, had a runway laid across the railway tracks. Not sure who had priority, signals stopped trains when aircraft were moving or air traffic stopped take offs and landings when notified train was near?

IIRC, signals controlled from the airfield control tower stopped trains when aircraft were taking off or landing.

 

[Ken H]

Henwick in Worcester. It also carries a busy road. But there is an underpass.not sure it up there with some of the others but the underpass gets busy sometimes so hard to tell.