More than 200 experts, policy makers and campaigners from around the world gathered at the National Railway Museum in York today (5 June) to address the persistent dangers of level crossings.
The event, taking place on the 17th International Level Crossing Awareness Day (ILCAD), was jointly hosted by Network Rail and the Rail Safety and Standards Board (RSSB), to coincide with the 200th anniversary of the world’s first passenger railway.
There were two fatalities at level crossings in 2024, the lowest number recorded on the network since 2018. The Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) reported nine incidents involving harm or the risk of harm to people at level crossings during the year. Network Rail recorded 426 near-miss incidents at level crossings in the 2023-2024 period, with 117 of these involving pedestrians in 2024.
Level crossings remain a critical point of risk: they account for nearly a third of all rail collisions globally. The overwhelming majority of these collisions are attributed to risky behaviour, distraction or deliberate rule-breaking by road users and pedestrians.
The figure rises sharply when trespass incidents are included. More than 90% of all fatalities on rail infrastructure worldwide involve third parties primarily trespassers and level crossing users.
The 2025 ILCAD theme, “Helping people make good decisions,” brought a focus on engineering solutions, enforcement partnerships and community outreach, especially targeting vulnerable users such as children, elderly people and those with disabilities.
ILCAD, led by the International Union of Railways (UIC) since 2009, is a global initiative aimed at raising awareness about the risks at level crossings and promoting best practices to prevent incidents. Each year, the campaign is launched in a different country, with around 50 nations participating annually, sharing strategies and success stories to promote safety.
Isabelle Fonverne, senior adviser for safety and interoperability from UIC, stressed the joint responsibility of road and rail sectors to bring down incidents and harm at level crossings. “To better address risks at level crossings, measures must be taken not only by the railways, but also by the road sector and relevant authorities,” she said.
“Better evaluation of risks and engagement of all stakeholders are key to finding solutions to improve safety at level crossings.”
Greg Morse, the Rail Safety and Standards Board’s operational feedback lead, explained that he was a strong advocate for using stories from past rail incidents to build and preserve the rail industry’s corporate memory.
“It’s important to look beyond your own boundaries, to try to get as much information as you can before making a safety decision,” he said.
“As time passes memories fade, and there can be gaps in our knowledge of why crossings were designed and operate the way they do. That’s why storytelling is essential for learning and for preventing the repetition of past mistakes.
“My work strives to preserve the rail industry’s corporate memory. Stories from the past can help build a safer present.”
On the same day as the conference in York, events were taking place in other parts of the world. Irish Rail personnel distributed safety information leaflets at selected level crossings across its national network. The exercise was supported by the An Garda Roads Policing Unit and the Road Safety Authority (RSA). In Ireland, there have been 28 level crossing incidents recorded so far in 2025, with 12 resulting in damage to crossings or injury to users.
In India, the railway authority aims to construct three pedestrian overbridges and underpasses each day, an overhaul in infrastructure that addresses the dangers of level crossings. Between 2004 and 2014, 596 collisions occurred at level crossings in India, resulting in 1,439 fatalities. In the year 2023-24, Indian Railways reported no collisions at level crossings; however its own data shows that 1,151 people died while crossing railway tracks.
Elsewhere there were initiatives to support ILCAD in 50 countries, including Nigeria, Mongolia, New Zealand, Mauritius, Japan and the United States, where there are still more than five people killed every week at level crossings.
Interesting to note that Greg Morse is a strong advocate of stories from past rail “incidents”, whatever that actually means. I wonder, therefore, if he is aware of the Cornton Level Crossing story, and whether anything has been learned from that. I suspect not, and that the road users involved remain aggrieved and uncompensated for the treatment they received.
Andrew Fraser, STIRLING
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