Our school is close to a railway line and crossing.  You will see trains and cars stopping at the level crossings at Millbrook and Lidlington to let the trains pass.  It s important that we know how to keep ourselves and others safe when close to railway tracks.

Safety systems used at level crossings

Stop, look, listen sign

• This sign indicates that we need to be extra vigilant – the crossing may not have a visual or audible warning.

Gates

• We may need to open the gates ourselves although some are operated by railway staff.
• We must make sure that there is no train coming before and immediately after opening the gates.
• We must make sure that all gates are closed after using a crossing.
• If we are crossing in a group we must make sure there is enough time and space for everyone to cross safely.

Warning lights

• Some crossings have amber and red warning lights. We must stop as soon as the lights come on, whether they are amber or red and not cross until the lights stop flashing – there may be more than one train.
• Some crossings have red and green lights. We must only cross when the green lights are showing.

Barriers

• Some crossings are ‘open’ and don’t have barriers, some have a ‘full barrier’ which blocks the entire road, whilst others have a ‘half barrier.’
• We must not cross until the barriers are fully raised – there may be more than one train.

Alarms and sirens

• There are various types of alarms – some sound like sirens, some sound like train horns.
• We must not cross if we hear a warning sound or message. This is the opposite of a pelican crossing, where the sound indicates that it is safe to cross.

How long until the train actually arrives?

• As users, we can never be sure! There is no set amount of time from a warning activating to the train arriving and there may be more than one train.