Tallington Level Crossing is the worst level crossing in the UK! The last on an A road between London and Edinburgh it has long been a problem for road traffic due to the number of trains passing through Tallington causing delays of up to 55 minutes in the hour!
All of the associated documents may be downloaded here.
UPDATE FROM NETWORK RAIL - 6TH MAY 2014
From: Nattrass Andy Date: 6 May 2014 11:10:44 To: Geoff Mayling
Subject: RE: Tallington Level Crossing - Response from Department of Transport
Hi Geoff, It’s good that the DfT are involved, as we would be discussing the potential for additional funding contributions towards any “enhanced” solution.
I was asked to give an update to Chris Angell at DfT in response to your letter.
The current status is: Our consultants Mott Macdonald are currently working up their proposals and we are due to see their initial plans soon.
· We asked Motts to look at the feasibility of an overbridge close to the current crossing, which would minimise the impact on residential property (although our signal box might be in the way!).
· We have held meetings with both Lincs County Council and SKDC; there are further discussions ongoing to gain input from planning and highways departments.
· The next step will be to present the proposals at a public consultation meeting in mid June (I understand June 17th has been pencilled in, but I will confirm as soon as I can).
I suggest we have a meeting with yourself and fellow Parish Councillors to present the plans just before the main public session.
I will make sure that we have the census results available by then too. Kind regards, Andy Nattrass BEng CEng MIET MIRSE
TALLINGTON PARISH COUNCIL TALLINGTON RAILWAY CROSSING UPDATE AT 31 MARCH 2014
We have now moved into the Feasibility Stage for closing the crossing and constructing a bridge and bypass. Two significant events have occurred in the last two weeks, namely:
1. A traffic census at the crossing commenced upon 17 March 2014. It captured data over a 24 hour period on 9 days. The standard survey scope includes numbers of vehicles, cyclists, horse riders and pedestrians. It also included the number of trains, the periods of time when the highway was closed (barrier down time), road vehicle speeds on approaches and where appropriate traffic turning analysis (where there are junctions/ entrances in close proximity to the crossing). We have suggested that a census in March may not truly represent the actual traffic flows at the crossing and a further census should take place after Easter. We will request a copy of this census when it is available.
2. Network Rail visited Tallington on 20 March 2014. Cllrs Geoff Mayling and John Smith at short notice were able to see Network Rail at the end of their visit. We were informed that the purpose of the visit was to acquaint Mott Macdonald (the consultants who are carrying out the feasibility study for Network Rail) with the crossing, village and surrounding land. It was not a meeting or consultation at which to discuss options or preferred routes of a bypass and position of a bridge.
TALLINGTON LEVEL CROSSING UPDATE FROM NETWORK RAIL RECEIVED 5 MARCH 2014
The following update will be read out at the parish council meeting to be held on Tuesday 11 March 2014 at 7.30pm.
“Network Rail has appointed Mott MacDonald (MM) consulting engineers to carry out feasibility studies at level crossings on a section of the ECML, first and foremost being Tallington.
We met with MM this week in York to pass across information we hold regarding previous work carried out either by Network Rail or others. We have also asked MM to take a fresh look at this, to see if there are other options we should be considering. We will be meeting with LCC shortly to introduce our consultants, explain the process we will be going through, engage their support and to ensure that all of the “historic” information available for them to review. Over the next 2-3 months, surveys will be carried out of road/foot and rail traffic, barrier down times, traffic modelling, environmental impact assessments etc in order to prepare options for consideration. Once we are in a position to present potential solutions for discussion, we will undertake a first round of consultation meetings (anticipated early summer) with LCC, the District Council and of course the Parish Council. We will also discuss these potential solutions with other stakeholders and interest groups – including representatives of the Tallington Bypass Action Group, who have been in contact with me recently. The feedback from these discussions will then be reviewed and potential solutions developed further so that cost estimates can be produced. In parallel of course there will be discussions about affordability and funding with LCC and potentially with DfT, depending largely upon the extent of new highway required for each of the options taken forward.”.
All of the associated documents may be downloaded here.