Network Rail backtracks on crossings closures
Network Rail has been accused of putting cost-cutting before safety after scrapping plans for the mass closure of level crossings on one of the busiest railway lines.
The company confirmed that it would not go ahead with a programme to shut 73 crossings on the East Coast Main Line. Closures would now be considered case by case as part of wider upgrades of the track infrastructure.
The decision comes a week afterthe government intervened over Network Rail’s £38.5 billion upgrade of the rail system because of delays and overrunning work. Key projects such as the plan to electrify the Midland Mainline and the TransPennine route have been suspended.
It has emerged that Network Rail has taken the axe to an extensive single programme of level crossing closures that would have removed crossings from a 160-mile stretch of the East Coast Main Line from Doncaster to London. It followed 56 public meetings and almost 4,000 pieces of written feedback on the plans.
Last year the companyapologised for serious failings over safety on level crossings followingcriticism by the Commons transport select committee. The infrastructure company is in the middle of a national closure programme to reduce risk, with 930 crossings shut since 2009, including 140 in the past 12 months.
Some £96 million is being spent on improving safety at crossings over the next four years.