Crossing near-miss caused by signaller - report

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The incident was recorded at the level crossing in Helpston near Peterborough on 21 October

A railway signaller forgot that a train was approaching and used an emergency system to lift the barriers of a level crossing, causing a near-miss incident, an investigation has found.

The incident was recorded at the Helpston signal box near Peterborough at 08:16 BST on 21 October, according to a report published by the Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB^▸ (Rail Accident Investigation Branch)).

It revealed that the signaller had activated a sealed release mechanism - an override system designed to be used for emergencies or equipment faults only.

As a result, the barriers were lifted and the "wig-wag road traffic lights" were extinguished - and a waiting car had begun to move forward. The report confirmed no vehicles were struck in the incident and no one was injured.

Data showed that the sealed release plunger had been used 183 times at Helpston between mid-February 2025 and the incident, a period of about eight months. The report said this suggested "there was an acceptance of a non-compliant local practice regarding sealed release use by staff in this signal box".

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CCTV^▸ (Closed Circuit TeleVision) from the second train at the time shows the lowered barrier on the left

At the time of the incident, the report found that at 08:12, the signaller started the crossing lowering sequence for three approaching trains. They were a passenger train on the Down Fast line, a second passenger train on the Up Fast line, and a freight train on the Up Stamford line.

It found that the signaller had "tried to manually raise the barriers" 11 seconds after the second train had passed, without looking towards the Stamford line. He was unable to raise the barrier, the report said, because "interlocking had detected the freight train approaching".

"The signaller had forgotten that this train was approaching and assumed that the barriers had developed a fault," the report added.

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View of the Stamford lines from Helpston signal box. The East Coast Main Line is to the right of the picture

A sealed release is an emergency tool that is only used during mechanical failures or emergencies.

The RAIB report said, if the sealed release has been used, an entry in the train register should be made and operations control should be notified.

The investigation found use of the sealed release was not documented at Helpston and managers were unaware that this practice had been adopted. It further revealed that the signaller involved "had been trained to use the sealed release" but "did not clearly understand the circumstances in which a sealed release should be used".

The report concluded that signallers should only used sealed releases "in line with the requirements of the Rule Book" and that managers should ensure that "effective assurance arrangements exist so that emergency or out-of-course systems do not become routinely used during normal operations".