Whats the maximum allowed speed for trains through railway crossings and stations in different countries?

225km/h in the UK authorised. In France between Tours and Bordaux the linespeed maxes out at 220km/h, and there are level crossings on that route.

Heres a vid taken in the UK - the camera bloke is standing halfway up a footbridge for pedestrians at a level crossing. Seeing the number and speed of trains its no surprising the pedestrians asked for a footbridge! The linespeed here is 225 km/h which the electric trains are capable of, but due to a health and safety directive above 200km/h requires 2 drivers, which the train company won't pay for, and it would cause timetabling problems anyway as the other trains can only do 200km/h.
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Thats an incredible high speed to go through a railroad crossing IMO. Have there not been any accidents where a car got in the way, or where the railroad crossing barriers failed?

I believe trains are restricted to only 120 km/h at level crossings in Denmark, at least I have never seen a train go faster through them than that.

I think it's 160km/h here.

^^ Do any trains go faster than that in Australia since the QR Tilt Train was limited?

Thats an incredible high speed to go through a railroad crossing IMO. Have there not been any accidents where a car got in the way, or where the railroad crossing barriers failed?

I believe trains are restricted to only 120 km/h at level crossings in Denmark, at least I have never seen a train go faster through them than that.

There are tonnes of level crossings like this in Britain.

I can only imagine that the fact that there are so many means people are more used to them and simply don't get in the way.

I haven't heard of many incidents of cars getting stuck on them, it could just not be reported?

^^ Do any trains go faster than that in Australia since the QR Tilt Train was limited?

fastest trains here are 160kmh. The vast majority of rail transport here operates at 100-130km/h.

Thats an incredible high speed to go through a railroad crossing IMO. Have there not been any accidents where a car got in the way, or where the railroad crossing barriers failed?

I believe trains are restricted to only 120 km/h at level crossings in Denmark, at least I have never seen a train go faster through them than that.

Yes - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3991147.stm this one was on a stretch of line where the max speed is only 160km/h.

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/40498000/jpg/_40498287_twisted203_pa.jpg All eight carriages left the tracks in the accident

As the Great Western Mainline cuts through the Berkshire countryside, there are regular level crossings along the way.

Usually unmanned, they are still common where a minor road crosses a railway line - even a busy one.
This accident is a deadly example of what can happen when a car ends up on a high-speed railway line.
The driver of the train would have had just seconds to stop - nowhere near enough time. He had no automatic warning of the car ahead on the line.
Only if the barrier had been open would red signals have been triggered to slow and stop the express from its speed of 100 miles an hour.
Safety measure
The significance of this crash is clear from the fact that it is the first time in nearly 20 years that train passengers have died in a level crossing accident. It is generally car drivers who are killed in such incidents.
Yet a few months ago, the head of Britain's railway inspectorate, Dr Alan Sefton, said level crossings were the "greatest potential risk" to the safety of the railways.
Eighteen people were killed, on foot or behind the wheel, at rail crossings last year.
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/shared/img/o.gifhttp://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/40499000/jpg/_40499049_crashedcar203.jpg
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/img/v3/inline_dashed_line.gif

Crossing safety 'must be probed' (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3990233.stm)
Rail level crossing discouraged (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3989685.stm)


Some have single barriers that block only half of the road in each direction. This is intentional - it allows drivers who have ended up on the track by accident to get to safety.

But it does mean it is almost impossible to stop a driver who may be intent on taking the risk. A car can be simply driven around the barriers onto the track.
One local resident emailed the BBC to say some drivers would do this at Ufton Nervet, if they could see there was no train coming.
Following the Berkshire tragedy, rail trade unions have called for level crossings to be removed from high-speed lines. That would be extremely expensive. And the rail industry would regard it as an over-reaction. The truth is that most accidents like this one are caused by car drivers. Rail chiefs believe what is needed most of all is a campaign to educate them of the risks.




There are some links on the right of that BBC page for further info about the incident - and some other related stories.

Where tram and train lines intersect, the limit is either 15 or 30km/h, with an extremely bumpy ride. It also requires an operator in the signalbox to manually change the voltage on the overhead lines between 1500V (trains) and 600V (trams).

Back in the 1920s, there were large scale projects to eliminate these, but in the years since, these have become a lot more expensive and a lot more inconvenient. That said, there are only four or so such crossings left in the country, although waiting for the entire length of a train to pass at such a low speed is painful.

Yes - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3991147.stm this one was on a stretch of line where the max speed is only 160km/h.



There are some links on the right of that BBC page for further info about the incident - and some other related stories.

That proves me wrong then... :nuts:

Where tram and train lines intersect, the limit is either 15 or 30km/h, with an extremely bumpy ride. It also requires an operator in the signalbox to manually change the voltage on the overhead lines between 1500V (trains) and 600V (trams).

Back in the 1920s, there were large scale projects to eliminate these, but in the years since, these have become a lot more expensive and a lot more inconvenient. That said, there are only four or so such crossings left in the country, although waiting for the entire length of a train to pass at such a low speed is painful.
We have one of those in Tallinn. Fortunately it's a minor railway that crosses the tram line.
http://www.panoramio.com/photos/original/7051257.jpg

225km/h in the UK authorised. In France between Tours and Bordaux the linespeed maxes out at 220km/h, and there are level crossings on that route.

There are no level-crossing any longer between Tours and Bordeaux and between Le Mans and Nantes. In France, the maximum spped is 160 km/h with level crossing and...320 km/h inside stations (Champagne Ardennes TGV for exemple). But of course, tracks that are used at 320 km/h are not along platforms.

225km/h in the UK authorised. The linespeed here is 225 km/h which the electric trains are capable of, but due to a health and safety directive above 200km/h requires 2 drivers, which the train company won't pay for, and it would cause timetabling problems anyway as the other trains can only do 200km/h.

225 km/h (140mph) running was planned for both the UK East Coast and West Coast main lines. However this will not be achieved until in-cab signalling has been installed (this won't start for another 8 years or so). So the current limit is 200 km/h (125mph) including through stations and level crossings.

The US Acela Express runs at 240km/h (150mph) through stations:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRjvFXOfvLo&feature=related

^^ In cab signalling is not required for 225km/h on some stretches on the east coast mainline. If you look at the video above that I posted you can see that sometimes the green lights are flashing - this is the "5th aspect", signifying to the drivers that the train is clear for 225km/h. HMRC regulations state that above 200km/h lineside signals pass to fast for a single driver to be guaranteed of spotting every one and not accidentally miss any, hence two drivers are required. However, should Nationakl Express wish, if they put a second driver in the cab of a class 91 I don't think there is anything to stop them pushing it to 225km/h over these sections with the flashing green lights. Extending the 5th aspect signalling was abandoned however (in the early 90s), so its just this bit between I think Huntingdon, Peterborough and Grantham.

Out of interest, under the IEP process the DfT and Network Rail are considering raising the maximum speed on some sections to 245km/h (approx 155 mph - they don't want to reach 250 km/h because that would require all sorts of high speed rail alterations under EU directives) once in cab signalling is implemented. There is a doc somewhere on the DfT website showing the potential speed increases possible without realigning the route.

I'm not sure of the exact limit for railway crossings, but in general any line that allows a speed of 140km/h or more doesn't have any railway crossings. Only bridges and tunnels are used then.

As for stations: again, not completely sure, but as far as I know 160km/h happens to some stations. Speed does seem to be limited if a local train is going to call at the station within a specified timespan. If a train is allowed to drive more on a line, there usually aren't any other stations where the train passes through without stopping.

Greetings,
Glodenox

HMRC regulations state that above 200km/h lineside signals pass to fast for a single driver to be guaranteed of spotting every one and not accidentally miss any, hence two drivers are required.

Why is that a problem when there is that warning system that makes a beep before a green signal (sorry for my ignorance, I forgot the name.)

I dont get why they cant just have a signalling system controlled by GPS... Easy. Hmm i suppose you cant sent data with that can you?

I dunno.

Why is that a problem when there is that warning system that makes a beep before a green signal (sorry for my ignorance, I forgot the name.)

Beats me. Although the warning bleepy thing can be disabled at track level - the thing on the track could fail or be damaged by a badger. Even then I thought that meant the train emergency stops. Its a good question.

I dont get why they cant just have a signalling system controlled by GPS... Easy. Hmm i suppose you cant sent data with that can you?

I dunno.

Well, thats what is apparently specified in ETRMS. The limitation being the bandwidth capable of reciving all live vehicle movement changes, constantly readjusting target speed data and communicating this to the right vehicles. It seems at busy junctions this quickly exceeds the bandwidth available.

If you want to get really technical have a go at this article here http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/town/square/ca14/ALYCIDON%20RAIL/INFORMED%20SOURCES%20ARCHIVE/INF%20SRCS%202007/Informed%20Sources%2009%202007%20p3.htm

Its really quite an informative if slightly irate article.

And there's also the fact that while GSM-R can just about cope with the demands of ETCS Level 2 on main lines, it will run out of bandwidth in busy areas with lots of trains having to be controlled. You really need GPRS for Level 2, let alone Level 3 to handle a major throat.

^^ In cab signalling is not required for 225km/h on some stretches on the east coast mainline. If you look at the video above that I posted you can see that sometimes the green lights are flashing - this is the "5th aspect", signifying to the drivers that the train is clear for 225km/h. HMRC regulations state that above 200km/h lineside signals pass to fast for a single driver to be guaranteed of spotting every one and not accidentally miss any, hence two drivers are required. However, should Nationakl Express wish, if they put a second driver in the cab of a class 91 I don't think there is anything to stop them pushing it to 225km/h over these sections with the flashing green lights. Extending the 5th aspect signalling was abandoned however (in the early 90s), so its just this bit between I think Huntingdon, Peterborough and Grantham.

Out of interest, under the IEP process the DfT and Network Rail are considering raising the maximum speed on some sections to 245km/h (approx 155 mph - they don't want to reach 250 km/h because that would require all sorts of high speed rail alterations under EU directives) once in cab signalling is implemented. There is a doc somewhere on the DfT website showing the potential speed increases possible without realigning the route.

Roger Ford, Modern Railways commented in his 'Informed Sources' article from June 2006:

http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/town/square/ca14/ALYCIDON%20RAIL/INFORMED%20SOURCES%20ARCHIVE/INF%20SRCS%202006/Informed%20Sources%2006%202006.htm

"When Virgin announced that it had asked Network Rail to look at the costs and benefits of running Pendolino's at 135mile/h on the West Coast Main Line my immediate reaction was to ask whether they had spoken to HMRI. That they hadn't struck me as distinctly odd.

In the press release which formally launched the initiative Virgin claimed ‘while speeds of 140 mile/h and above will require new trackside signalling linked to in-cab signalling equipment on the trains, trains can operate at 135 mile/h using existing signalling'. To which the answer is, ‘not according to HMRI'.

Just to make sure, I asked HMRI, now part of the Office of Rail Regulation for their current view on speeds above 125mile/h on existing lines. As of 25 April ‘ our position is that human factor considerations indicate that optical sighting of signals cannot be relied upon at speeds over 125m/h'.

Which was as I thought, because we went through all this back in the 1980s when InterCity specified the East Coast Main line electrification for 140 mile/h. The overhead line support masts were configured to allow the future addition of a compound catenary and the traction and rolling stock was deigned for the same speed.

British Rail also proposed using flashing green signals to provide a fifth aspect a technique, known as ‘preannonce' (acute accent over e) by French Railways when the Capitole pioneered 125mile/h running on classic lines in the 1960s. A flashing green aspect would indicate that a train could run enhanced line-speed, 140mile/h on the ECML, to the next signal. A steady green aspect would require the driver to brake to line speed.

While 22 miles of the ECML between Helpston and Stoke was fitted with flashing green aspects, its use was limited to high speed testing for IC225. And that was that. Testing apart, HMRI decreed that above 125 mile/h cab signalling was mandatory"

Roger Ford added in his recent article on the IEP (Modern Railways, July 2008 that the East Coast Main Line 'was cleared for speeds of 140mph (225 km/h) and above only for testing under possession plus ..one demonstration run..' (London to Edinburgh 393 miles (628km), 26/09/91, 3 hours 29 minutes)

I think we can therefore assume that the West and East Coast Main Lines will be restricted to 125mph (200 km/h) for the foreseable future, regardless of whether or not the new IEP trains have 155mph (250km/h) potential.

Thanks. There's no mention in Mr Ford's article about the two-man driving team, so I will try to chase that one up to see if there is any basis in that. Mr Ford tends to be correct about everything so I'll agree that the current limit is more set in stone than I had thought.

Here in portugal the fastest railway crossing is limited to 160km/h (maximum speed limit of Pendulino trains on "conventional" tracks) ... "upgraded"/HSL tracks have no corssings whatsoever (not even pedestrian crossings alowed).

Stations along "upgraded"/HSL routes usualy are passed in the "thru" tracks at the route given speed ... usualy that means 228km/h (220km/h from the limit + 4km/h from the convel tolerance + 4km/h from the "margin of error" < the "real" speed limit is actualy 227/228 ... wichever speed makes the convel buzz start to operate -1km/h :lol:)

Convel = portuguese automatic train protection system (signaling and speed are also automaticaly controled here) ... a system by ex.Ericsson (nowadays a part of Bombardier?)

http://hjcl.xico.co.uk/fjpg/PAINEL.jpg

more info about portuguese signaling and Convel can be found here:
http://hjcl.xico.co.uk/

Sidenotes:
- the "fastest" railway crossing in portugal is in the stretch Ovar-Maceda:
(where the current portuguese High Speed Record was broken)

- The fastest 4 track section is 40km north of lisboa from VFXira to Azambuja = 4 tracks all with 220km/h speed limit (even for conventional trains) .. it has a couple of stations (3 platforms each) in it (speed could be higher if they wanted since it is basicaly a 4 track HSL built from scratch)
- The fastest "unrenovated" track section is in the "beira Alta" line ... outside of the "renovated"/HSL speeds of 160km/h are only possible in that route and in "northern line" in the Ovar-Espinho section (actualy anything above 140km/h) ... but in EACH and EVERY crossing in "Beira Alta" the speed is limited to the regulatory 140km/h ... :ohno:
^^ I don't know for sure if this Level Crossing is inside or outside the Ovar station boundaries (hwy ... I'm on vacations and cant confirm it from here)
http://wikimapia.org/#lat=40.8683247&lon=-8.6174494&z=18&l=9&m=a&v=2

Thanks. There's no mention in Mr Ford's article about the two-man driving team, so I will try to chase that one up to see if there is any basis in that. Mr Ford tends to be correct about everything so I'll agree that the current limit is more set in stone than I had thought.

Looks like 125mph (200km/h) is it in the UK (apart from High Speed 1) until ERTMS Level 2 is implemented - DfT's plan states this will start in 2018 for the East Coast Main Line and 2027 for the West Coast Main Line - so a long wait!

www.dft.gov.uk/162259/165234/349552/ukertmsplan.pdf

Whats the maximum allowed acceleration and braking (in km/h per second) for trains in general?

Or how fast can a train accelerate and brake without exceeding the passengers comfort level?

At higher speeds they can often brake as hard as possible and it won't bother passengers. As the speed decreases the deceleration rate increases (as the momentum is a factor of the speed squared), so the driver will need to back it off. But also hard braking means the brakes need to replaced sooner - and brake replacement is a much larger proportion of operating costs for trains than it is for... say buses. There's a vid on youtube of a Virgin Voyager doing an emergency stop through northallerton station - it stops from 200km/h in a few hundred metres - it certainly looks much less than a km, and afterwards the train is sitting in a cloud of smoke from its own brakes!!! Even with this kind of braking I don't think its too much for passengers to just hold on to something to steady themselves.

As far as acceleration is concerned - again due to the momentum = mass x speed squared law its at lower speeds that it could be discomforting. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiwan_High_Speed_700T_train - this taiwan train has an acceleration of 2km/h/s, but then underground metro trains typically exceed that, but then they're more uncomfortable!

They can't go to hard in The Netherlands;

Dutch Train;
tQJ_DF0I2dY&feature=related

ICE;
1wGYjFuGL8M&feature=related

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^Jees, not normal anymore. They can't even go 100km/h in NL I think.

This one will go by far the quickest. You probably know it.

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^Jees, not normal anymore. They can't even go 100km/h in NL I think.Because of idiotic bicycles who crosses when they are not allowed?

They can't go to hard in The Netherlands;

Dutch Train;

ICE;


Are both of those videos from the Netherlands or is the ICE from Germany?

^Yes. It's a Dutch ICE in Elst.

Our trains are short...;

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I think this is Japan, 2 trains, or 3?;

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Japan. This is a railroad crossing in the kintetsu kyoto line;

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In Sweden maximum through a level crossing with a road is 200 km/h, (which is the same as the maximum rail speed). But then the level crossing must have detectors for vehicles inside the gates.
A collision with a heavy truck is nasty. There was an accident when a short light passenger train collided at 140 km/h with a heavy truck. The train derailed, with two dead and many injured. The truck driver was not injured since he had left the truck. He got prison for not trying to continue drving (the wooden gates can be driven through).

In the last seconds one can see the alfa Pendular storming at 220km/h tru a station ...

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In Slovenia is 160km/h.

In Sweden maximum through a level crossing with a road is 200 km/h, (which is the same as the maximum rail speed). But then the level crossing must have detectors for vehicles inside the gates.
A collision with a heavy truck is nasty. There was an accident when a short light passenger train collided at 140 km/h with a heavy truck. The train derailed, with two dead and many injured. The truck driver was not injured since he had left the truck. He got prison for not trying to continue drving (the wooden gates can be driven through).
^^
VzL_b7O2Vzs

In China, the Beijing-Tianjin high-speed train run through Wuqing Railway Station at 330 km/h (it was faster during the first days the line was opened for service). The station has two platforms four tracks, non-stop trains use the tracks in the middle.

Here is a wonderful video whose uploader actually measures the speeds at which N700 Shinkansen trains go through stations. The highest figure he gives is almost equal to the maximum speed of the trains, so this shows there is no restriction to the speed through stations.

I have no idea about railway crossings.

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I dont get why they cant just have a signalling system controlled by GPS... Easy. Hmm i suppose you cant sent data with that can you?

I dunno.

Two reasons : first the GPS is an unidirectional system. You need to build
something wider than simply the GPS to make a signalling system out of it.

Second reason : the GPS resolution is not good enough to discriminate
between two adjacent tracks.

I don't know about speed limit on level crossing or passing station(from my memory it was not fast on both case), except this :

Cheonan-Asan station in korea
(seemed to be passing station on its full speed,but don't know exact speed)

Jr3-O7wS3dg

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@xlchrisij: I'm sure trains can go faster then 100km/u trough crossings and stations in the Netherlands. Maximum speed between Zwolle and Groningen is 140km/u. There are a lot of crossings on that line and i cannot imagine that trains will slow down for them. If you are for instance on the Beilen station, intercity trains will pass at very high speeds.

High Speed Trains can "pass tru" stations at full speed if those stations are built for that ... here the Pendular pass tru at 220/228 km/h ... TGV's and others can pass stations at 300km/h ... etc etc

Speed tru level crossings is severely limited in most places ... here is as low as 140km/h (160km/h in some well protected LC) ... in the UK they even put surveilance cameras to allow safe 200km/h ... etc etc

Where tram and train lines intersect, the limit is either 15 or 30km/h, with an extremely bumpy ride. It also requires an operator in the signalbox to manually change the voltage on the overhead lines between 1500V (trains) and 600V (trams).

Back in the 1920s, there were large scale projects to eliminate these, but in the years since, these have become a lot more expensive and a lot more inconvenient. That said, there are only four or so such crossings left in the country, although waiting for the entire length of a train to pass at such a low speed is painful.
There's four left in Melbourne. I particularly like watching the Long Island steel train go over the Glenhuntly Rd crossing - even at 15km/h, you can see all those tonnes of slab steel aren't helping the track.

For those who are unfamiliar with these, here's a photo of the Gardiner one:
http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=255601

the Netherlands

Train running with full speed (? km/h) through Hoofddorp train station.
Running from Schiphol to Vlissingen and Dordrecht.
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A Benelux train running with about 100km/h through Hoofddorp station.
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Intercity train going to Nijmegen running through Arnhem South station.
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After train station Meppel you have this railway crossing.
pr9q6O-ISi4&feature=related

ICE (horning) in Zevenaar.
cuhIMA0bHsQ&feature=related

Dutch Intercity train running through a train station;
g1OTJqLjx9A&feature=related

Amtrak

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9KePxT_7Vjw&feature=related

Russia – 200 km/h through station:

http://video.mail.ru/mail/cyg-aleksej/540/538.html

http://i939.photobucket.com/albums/ad236/trainrover/st-henri.jpg
I happened to find myself waiting at this three-track level crossing earlier today. Between the pair of trains that plied the crossing in the same direction independently of one another, I was the only of us ten pedestrians who waited for the crossing barriers to rise, yield to roadway traffic :uh: I guess that might've been 'we four of 40' had the first train been 120 cars long instead of 30, plus the other (single-loco-single-boxcar!) train took only the further 35 seconds to arrive at the crossing.

The weather? Not overly cold, although blustery, poor visibility due to the heavy snowfall, altogether with slippery pavement and tracks.

:sly::sly: The very same level crossing on the autoroute (a.k.a. the Trans Canada Highway, freeway, motorway, controlled-
access highway, maximum-100KPH-minimum-60KPH road) featured (sorry, embedding's been disabled to each
of the last four videos):

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Notice there being no barrier, no advance prepare-to-stop flashing warning light (like the following Australasian examples)
preceding the crossings either direction, hard brakings, many infracting motorists, no simultaneous activation of
the crossings :ohno:


http://www.aldridgetrafficcontrollers.com.au/Images/UserUploadedImages/108/AAWS_BlindCurveCrossing_LargeFormat.jpg
^^ clickable... (http://www.aldridgetrafficcontrollers.com.au/Products/Advanced-Warning-Sign-Controller/Solar-Active-Advanced-Warning-Sign-Controller)

QbtEZbUXxms
:uh:

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:ohno: