Rail Users Ireland Forum - Concerns over busy Tipperary railway crossing

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Concerns over busy Tipperary railway crossing

Quote:

Iarnród Eireann is being accused of putting peoples lives in danger by not adequately staffing a level crossing in South Tipperary.

Safety concerns have resurfaced about a crossing in Carrick on Suir after an ambulance was apparently delayed for some time there yesterday.

The problems at the Cregg Road level crossing in Carrick on Suir have been going on for years.

Locals say the gates can be closed for anything up to quarter of an hour while waiting for a train to pass.

The latest incident happened yesterday when an ambulance on an emergency call was apparently delayed for around ten minutes before the gates could be opened to allow it through.

The Irish Rail employee at the Carrick station has to carry out a number of other duties as well as opening and closing the level crossing a few hundred metres away.

According to Iarnród Eireann the line between Waterford and Limerick Junction is not signalled from central traffic control, but from signal boxes along the route.

They claim the process takes between 5 and 6 minutes - this happens at Carrick-on-Suir 4 times a day twice in the morning and twice in the evening Monday to Saturday.

There are four housing estates on the northern side of the crossing with residents regularly delayed for some time - Michael Hickey of Carrick River Rescue who witnessed yesterdays incident says this could lead to a tragedy.

The issue has been debated at length over the years at Carrick Town Council and South Tipp County Council as well as being raised in the Dail.

Over ten years ago Iarnród Eireann put the cost of replacing the gates with automatic barriers at between €700,000 and €1 million with the then Carrick Town Council having to foot the bill.

http://tippfm.com/news/news_detail/r...way_cross ing

There are generally no more than four trains a day through that crossing. It is not a particularly busy road, at most you might collect 10 cars on either side of the crossing.

Aa regards ambulances or other emergrncy services the issue arises potentially at every level crossing in the country and there may well be a case for a protocol between IR and the emergency services to minimise delays and to stop trains where safe to do so.

Its put up or shut up.

If the local politicians are so worried they can pay to get a automatic level crossing installed. They might be surprised at what little difference it would make

You are correct, an automatic crossing might well make little difference unless it was operated like the DART area level crossings where enhanced priority is given to road traffic.

In the case of Carrick on Suir this is a parish pump issue, there is no justification in the railway wasting resources on solutions which will have minimal impact in addressing an issue that is no more than a minimal infrequent irritation for a handful of people.

Centrally Controlled crossings can spend anywhere from 2.5-3.5 minutes down. I suspect that many can be even longer such as ones on the Cork line north and south of Limerick J which generally have a train in either direction passing within a minute or two of one another.

Automatic crossings should be put in places where manual ones are slowing down trains.