---
title: "Risk at level crossings – the role of personal and collective responsibility towards safety"
url: "https://www.systra.com/uk/expert_insights/risk-at-level-crossings-the-role-of-personal-and-collective-responsibility-towards-safety/"
type: expert_insights
date_published: 2024-06-05
date_modified: 2025-08-04
schema:
  @type: WebPage
language: en-GB
word_count: 1672
reading_time: 9 min
canonical: "https://www.systra.com/uk/expert_insights/risk-at-level-crossings-the-role-of-personal-and-collective-responsibility-towards-safety/"
featured_image: "https://www.systra.com/uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2024/06/risk-at-level-crossings-header-and-featured-image.png"
type-insight:
  - Level Crossings
---

# Risk at level crossings – the role of personal and collective responsibility towards safety

![Risk at level crossings – the role of personal and collective responsibility towards safety](https://www.systra.com/uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2024/06/risk-at-level-crossings-header-and-featured-image.png)

**Level crossings are intersections where rail and road traffic meet at the same level. Incidents at level crossings are potentially more likely to result in fatalities compared to road traffic incidents. **

As high-risk intersections, level crossings are equipped with a broad range of
safety warnings and measures. Notwithstanding the differences in the design of
signage and other safety measures between countries, the exact combination of
safety warnings for each level crossing will depend on the relative risk for
that specific location.

Where level crossings are on busy roads with heavy vehicle or pedestrian
traffic, they usually require some form of active warnings, such as lights and
audible warnings. The type of protection does not only depend on the road
traffic and layout, for example sighting distance and potential for bottlenecks,
but also on rail traffic and infrastructure characteristics such as the number
of tracks or frequency of rail services.

Passive level crossings are those where it is the road user’s responsibility to
make a judgment about when it is safe to cross or rely on instructions from a
signaller. For example, the user may have to ring a signaller for permission to
cross.

### Incidents post-Covid

Despite various measures aimed at reducing the risk at such intersections, the
number of fatalities has remained high in recent years. When factoring in the
much higher number of near misses with the potential to result in fatalities or
significant infrastructure damage, this explains why safety at level crossings
is an important issue – it represents
[6% of the total mainline system risk](https://www.networkrail.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Enhancing-Level-Crossing-Safety-2019-2029.pdf)
.

The safest level crossing is a closed one, meaning it is no longer a designated
place to cross the tracks. Despite a large number of crossings being closed in
the last five years, the overall number of incidents has remained similar. This
might imply that more incidents are now taking place per level crossing.

Near misses with pedestrians at passive and user-worked crossings – the largest
proportion of level crossings on the UK network – are a particular issue. The
Rail Safety and Standards Board’s (RSSB) database (figure 1 below), shows
near-misses with pedestrians have substantially increased in the years following
the national lockdowns introduced during the Covid-19 pandemic.

![fig-1-number-of-near-misses (risk at level crossings expert insight)](https://www.systra.com/uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2024/06/fig-1-number-of-near-misses.png)

_Figure 1: number of near misses with pedestrians across theGB network (taken from RSSB Level Crossing data hub), 17/05/2024_

The most obvious reason for such an increase is the ubiquitous shift of travel
and work patterns. More people are now permanently or mainly working from home.
There is a tendency to move away from busy cities to more rural and remote
locations.

There is also a greater emphasis on and interest from the general public in
mental and physical health and keeping active during work hours. All of these
factors may have led to a significant change in the population using level
crossings and more so for leisure purposes. This could certainly help explain
the higher number of incidents, but there are other factors to be considered.

The shift in travel patterns and ever-growing population has introduced the need
for multiple infrastructure upgrades and more frequent services across the
network. Additionally, the last years have seen multiple service disruptions due
to planned and unplanned maintenance works, staff shortages and strikes.

All these factors translate into a more dynamic and unpredictable operation of
the railways today compared to a few years ago.

### Behavioural patterns

In 2015, I completed my PhD thesis looking at the factors shaping pedestrians’
crossing decisions at level crossings. My findings shed light on psychological
constructs such as the perception of control, the perception of safety,
individual’s previous experience and social influences, to name a few. It is
easy for regular users to stray into unsafe behaviours when they feel familiar
with the crossing context – the direction and speed of timetabled trains, when
they know a train is expected to stop at station before reaching the level
crossing. However, there can always be a change in train timetables, there can
always be a delayed fast train coming through instead of a stopping one.

Indeed, familiarity with a crossing is recognised as a major factor influencing
decision-making. The Office of Rail and Road (ORR), in the
[most recent guidance](https://www.orr.gov.uk/sites/default/files/2021-06/principles-for-managing-level-crossing-safety-june-2021_0.pdf)
for the management of risk at level crossings, emphasises the importance of
including ‘human factors’ in design and risk assessments.

The guidance points to the need to understand people’s tendency to underestimate
risk, especially when required to make quick decisions in familiar environments.
It also stresses the need to communicate crossing instructions clearly and aim
for seamless designs to reduce the potential for unintentional errors.

Understanding when people may be attracted to taking shortcuts or deviating from
the rules and procedures around level crossings is one of the cornerstones of
our profession as Human Factors specialists at SYSTRA.

### Human Factors integration – Why we should strive to understand risks early on

When we talk about ‘Human Factors Integration’, we want to make sure that human
capabilities and limitations are considered and integrated with all system
aspects. It is therefore crucial we understand:

- _Who_ the system users are?
- _How_ demanding would the task be for people with different characteristics?
- _What_ may distract them or influence their behaviour?

In addition to understanding behavioural patterns at level crossings, the other
big theme of my PhD thesis was analysing the physical and socio-economic
environment around level crossings. The context of use is not limited to the
immediate infrastructure environment. It is about understanding the wider
crossing context. _What_ are the characteristics of the road/pavement leading to
the crossing?  _What_ signage would be best suited and where is the best
location for it? _What _local facilities or activities in the area may inform on
user characteristics and journeys (such as schools, sport venues, shopping
centres and so on)?

When upgrading existing level crossings or designing new ones, working with
stakeholders to understand the user and the crossing context, along with the
rail and road traffic characteristics, should dictate the appropriate layout and
method of operation for the crossing (figure 2 below).

![fig-2-whole-system-approach (risk at level crossings expert insight)](https://www.systra.com/uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2024/06/fig-2-whole-system-approach.jpg)

_Figure 2: whole-system approach to level crossing safety management_

It also feeds into determining the specific upgrades and highlights the need to
work closely with the community to raise risk awareness in the long term.

SYSTRA’s whole-system approach to level crossing safety management helps make
crossings safer, tackles causes of user error and better deters intentional
risk-taking.  

Failure to take a system approach, underestimating the impact of any of these
elements early in the design stages, may result in high unexpected costs in
addition to safety risk. Expensive overbridges and even underpasses, for
example, may be justified if the whole-life costs for level crossing upgrades,
maintenance, control room upgrades, local area infrastructure upgrades, and
safety and security staff costs are carefully considered.

### SAFETY BY DESIGN VS AWARENESS

Designing safe level crossings is paramount, whether new infrastructure or
upgrades to existing operations.

When it comes to design and engineering solutions, new technologies such as the
obstacle detection capability and overlay miniature stop lights, have proven to
be very effective and promising for the long-term safety targets. Network Rail
is also considering various improvements to barriers to make them more
conspicuous and reduce the risk of vehicles driving around.

These design and engineering solutions have to align with the crossing context
and user needs at the specific location. With level crossings, there is not a
one-size-fits-all design solution, which is why SYSTRA works closely with
partners, clients and industry to ensure the fundamental safety principles are
at the heart of the project.

Making a level crossing safer will always be a combination of design,
engineering solutions, culture and enforcement.

Better education around the safe use of level crossings is always needed,
especially given the changing railways characteristics and societal trends.
Education needs to come from cross sector and across partnerships, as well as
events such as the upcoming International Level Crossing Awareness Day.

It also comes from home and from the social world around us. It is everyone’s
responsibility to act as a role model and educate where possible.

We should all help draw attention to the real risks for those who may not be
aware. For instance, I found the recent
[Network Rail release](https://www.networkrailmediacentre.co.uk/news/video-new-video-footage-shows-dangers-of-the-railway-and-impact-of-trespass-on-railway-staff#:~:text=The%20film%20recounts%20the%20frightening,families%2C%20friends%20and%20railway%20colleagues)
on the story of Cristiano particularly impactful. It not only shows the
consequences of such a traumatic event for the victim and their family, but also
for rail staff and others involved.

Ultimately, it is our responsibility as engineers, human factors specialists and
designers, to carefully consider the risks early on. Have we identified _all_
foreseeable risks accounting for ‘human nature’ – human strengths and weaknesses
– to deliver a design solution that is safe, and fit for each purpose?

![leverl-crossings-header](https://www.systra.com/uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2023/06/leverl-crossings-header-1024x645.jpg)

_services Level Crossings Read more sur Level Crossings_

![](https://www.systra.com/uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2023/05/l3-service-headers_technical-systems-1-1024x645.jpg)

_services Technical Systems Read more sur Technical Systems_

![rose-lane-user-worked-level-crossing](https://www.systra.com/uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2024/05/rose-lane-user-worked-level-crossing-1024x645.jpg)

_projects Level Crossings Enhancements for the Transpennine Route Upgrade Read more sur Level Crossings Enhancements for the Transpennine Route Upgrade_

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