Coates Smith Defends Network Rail over Crossing Tragedy

November 2004 (press release)

Peter Coates Smith, who has spent some 20 years improving safety at level crossings, has been quick to defend Network Rail in the latest blaze of media criticism following last week’s tragedy in Berkshire.

“In the last 10 years, Network Rail and its predecessors have invested heavily in improving safety at level crossing sites and it is simply not fair for the media to again knock the Network,” he says.

Coates Smith has studied level crossing sites in most European countries, Australia and the States and knows crossings in the UK to be among the safest and best maintained.

Coates Smith’s company, HoldFast Level Crossings Limited, supply the Queens Award winning HoldFast platform, a system Peter designed in consultation with the industry to improve road and rail safety and reduce installation and maintenance costs.

Such is its success, his company won the HSBC Rail Supplier of the Year Award this year. Peter’s commitment to improving rail safety at crossings is well documented.

“Ours is not the cheapest solution but it is a testament to Network Rail’s determination to improve safety that our system has been so popular with their contractors.”

We have also supplied many crossings to provide track access points for emergency and heavy vehicle access in case of accidents. Many of these, thankfully, are little used but highlight the provision Network Rail has made to facilitate an efficient accident response. One such example are our crossings at each end of the Severn Tunnel near Bristol. These have never been used but have been installed to address the need for track access by fire, medical and evacuation teams should there be a tunnel accident.”

While Peter does believe the latest telematic technology may enable a solution allowing train drivers to see crossings in advance from their cabs, he doubts the financial feasibility of such a scheme.

“I do believe the investment may be affordable for highway crossings but let’s not forget there are thousands of agricultural crossings in the UK. Many of these have already been upgraded with HoldFast platforms and are far better maintained than most similarly rural crossings on the Continent. We can reduce the margins of human failure or error, and limit the consequences, but never eliminate it.

“It’s said so often it sounds a cliché but it is nonetheless a fact: rail is by far the safest form of transport in this country. Yes, we should all strive to make rail safer, and learn from every accident, but the media chorus against Network Rail is misses the point. The focus instead should be on making the public more aware and responsible to the dangers of crossing a rail line, just as they are of crossing a road.”