British Transport Police and Network Rail braved the wind and rain on Friday 8 July to keep people safe at Blythe Bridge level crossing.
More than 100 motorists and pedestrians were spoken to as part of British Transport Police and Network Rail’s drive to improve safety at level crossings across the north west.
Blythe Bridge has been identified as a problematic area with motorists and pedestrians often dashing across the tracks as the warning sirens sound and the barriers start to fall.
To combat this BTP and Network Rail spent the morning at the crossing giving out leaflets and advice on how to use level crossings safely.
Sergeant John Price, of BTP, said: “Level crossings are perfectly safe when used correctly. Sadly there seems to be a small number of people who are willing to put their lives on the line and run across as trains are approaching.
“The whole point of barriers and sirens is that they warn when it is not safe to cross – by ignoring them people are putting their own lives, and the lives of others, at risk.”
The operation passed without any action being taken against any motorists or pedestrians, although one man was spoken to after he ran across the tracks when the warning siren was sounding.
Sgt Price added: “It is hard to believe that anyone would put themselves, and others, in harms way just to shave a few minutes off their journey time, but it is something we see on a regular basis.
“We will continue to carry out operations at level crossings across the area to educate people and to take action against those whose irresponsible behaviour puts lives in danger.”
Jo Kaye, Network Rail route director, added: “Ideally we would like to see all level crossings closed and replaced with an alternative means of crossing the railway.
“Clearly that is not practical at every location so we will continue to work with others to educate people about the safe use of level crossings.
“We will also use new technology in this process, such as the sat-nav application we recently launched with Garmin that warns you when you approach a railway crossing.”
