Call for action on four "high risk" rail crossings in Sutherland
A rail safety organisation is calling for action to improve the safety of four out of six open level crossings in Sutherland.
The Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) is recommending that automatic barriers be fitted to the crossings at Brora, Dalchalm, Kinbrace and Lairg.
Investigators believe these crossings are amongst a number in Scotland where a crash between a train and a road vehicle is more likely to happen because of various factors.
Each of the four ungated crossings, which are controlled by lights alone, have been the scene of a collision between a vehicle and a train at one point over the past 12 years.
The most recent crash occurred at Kinbrace in April 2008 when local man Gordon Mackenzie had a lucky escape after the Land Rover he was driving ran into a train.
There have also been a number of other near-miss incidents reported at all four crossings.
The crossings at Brora and Lairg top the league table in Sutherland for the highest number of reported incidents - at 36 each in the time period from 1998 to January 2010.
Next comes Dalchalm with seven reported incidents and then Kinbrace with five.
The county has two other open level crossings, on the A897 at Forsinard and on an access road to Kirkton Farm, outside Golspie.
But there have been no collisions recorded at either of these crossings, although there has been a single reported incident at each. They are not earmarked for action.
The statistics are contained in a recently published investigation by the RAIB into the safety of automatic level crossings.
The survey was prompted by a crash in Caithness in 2009 when three members of the same family died after driving into an ungated level crossing.
Network Rail has 115 automatic open crossings, 23 of which are in Scotland, with all but two of these located in the Highlands.
RAIB said that more than half of the country’s crossings, including the site of the 2009 crash at Halkirk, posed a high risk to drivers and should be fitted with barriers.
One of the factors thought make certain crossings a high risk is familiarity – crossings in rural areas are used regularly by the same drivers.
The report states "Special consideration should be given to those crossings with an enhanced likelihood of a road vehicle and train collision."
The rail accident group has now called on Network Rail to implement immediately a programme to upgrade the highest risk automatic open crossings. RAIB said: "Upgrades should consist of fitting barriers, or other measures delivering an equivalent or improved level of safety."
Following the publication of the report, Highland Council convener Dr Michael Foxley called for Network Rail to begin installing barriers immediately at all 21 Highland ungated level crossings.
A spokesman for Network Rail said it was implementing a substantial programme of activity aimed at reducing the level of risk by a quarter by 2014.