Stop light system to be installed at 'danger' rail crossing near Chirk Viaduct after 13 incidents including dog walker near-miss
Miniature stop lights are to be installed at a 'danger' rail crossing on the Shropshire border after a "rise in unsafe behaviour".
A review of the footpath crossing just south of the viaduct between Chirk and Gobowen has highlighted 13 separate incidents between November 16 last year and March 26 this year.
An assessment of the crossing reported incidents involving a group of 36 children, and "loitering" dog walkers, photographers and walkers.
Network Rail was made aware of an incident in December where a dog walker stopped on the crossing to take pictures of the viaduct before a train was seen passing through just 16 seconds later.
In a letter responding to proposals to install a new Wrexham-to-London railway service that would run through Shropshire, stopping at Shrewsbury and Telford Central, Network Rail said its introduction would bring an "intolerable 23.81 per cent risk increase" at the Viaduct level crossing.
It said the crossing is "reliant on 'stop, look, listen' signage where the users make the decision to cross themselves", and that it was a "hot spot for trespassing and fatalities".
North Shropshire MP Helen Morgan, Shrewsbury MP Julia Buckley and MP for Wrexham Andrew Ranger sent a combined letter to the chief executive at Network Rail, Sir Andrew Haines, outlining their "serious concern" regarding the "danger presented" by the crossing.
The MPs said they were "alarmed" by incidents recorded at the crossing and the "high risk of harm facing pedestrians" who use it.
