Network Rail has closed 800 crossings in the past five years, and plans to close 500 more in the next five. Britain is comfortably the best in Europe at managing level crossings.
Nevertheless, eight people died on level crossings last year. Two were car occupants at the same incident on an automatic half-barrier crossing, five were pedestrians, and the other was a cyclist. “None were industry-caused,” concludes the safety report.
It is perhaps surprising that the figure was not larger. There were ten collisions between trains and cars at level crossings, and a total of 48 road vehicle incursions onto the track (a drop of 15% on the year before).
“Making crossings safer is not just about closing them, although that is usually the best solution,” says Prosser.
“We call it the Three Es: education, engineering and enforcement. There are some crossings - like Poole High Street in Dorset - where an engineering solution to a high-risk crossing is not possible.
“But we can do more to educate the people who use level crossings. And there should be more enforcement if education is not having sufficient impact. We should not be afraid of tackling people who deliberately do stupid things.”
Suicides
The total number of people killed on the railway rose last year. That is primarily due to a greater number of suicides - the highest level for more than a decade.
This is a very sensitive area for the railway. Prosser is keen to highlight the strong leadership demonstrated by Network Rail in tackling the issue, but is wary of the implications of acknowledging that more people are choosing the tracks as the place to end their lives. There were 279 suicides in 2013-14, compared with 246 the previous year. Over the past five years, the rate has risen by 17%. ORR says this is associated with the impact of the global economic downturn, a pattern that is not unique to Britain. Increases in suicides of similar proportions have been recorded in other western European countries.
Four per cent of suicides in Britain occur on the railways. There is a particular incidence of males between the ages of 15 and 44 choosing this location - almost half of all rail suicides are in this group.
“What the industry is trying to do with the Samaritans is really very good,” says Prosser. “There have been many examples of railway staff, trained by the Samaritans, who have intervened in situations where this has led to someone not taking their own life. The numbers are large. There are hundreds of these, and this deserves praise.”
Network Rail recently renewed its training contract with the Samaritans for a further five years. Since 2010, 5,000 front line staff have been trained in active suicide prevention, and in 2013-14 they recorded more than 600 interventions.
“The industry is really well focused on this,” says Prosser. “The training of staff both in prevention and in dealing with the unpleasant aftermath of a suicide is very positive. We know there are particular suicide hotspots, such as railway lines close to psychiatric hospitals, and we need to make sure that more staff in those areas are trained.
“This is a problem that is increasing nationally, but we are being part of the solution. It’s a credit to the industry.”
One piece of good news in this area is that the number of trespassers killed on the railway fell last year - 21 people died, compared with 32 in 2012-13.
The ORR’s annual report concludes that the slowing trend “illustrates that the industry’s work to better control infrastructure access is being increasingly effective”.
