Jammed railway level crossing shut off main road through Smithy Bridge for four hours

Date published: 08 April 2015


The level crossing at Smithy Bridge being was jammed for four hours, causing the closure of the main road through Smithy Bridge, on Tuesday 1 April.

A spokesman for Network Rail said: “A fault with the signalling near Smithy Bridge station caused the level crossing barriers to remain down between 6.30pm and 10.30pm. Staff were on site to carry out repairs as quickly as possible so the crossing was able to work correctly. We apologise for the inconvenience caused.”

Since the installation of the automatic barriers, they have failed to function correctly on several occasions, cutting off the main route through the village and forcing drivers to divert.

Campaigners are calling for the level crossing to be staffed, and have campaigned for over a year for the reinstatement of an operated system.

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