SAFER-LC Project - Safer level crossing by integrating and optimising road-rail infrastructure management and design - Lessons learnt

In line with the global efforts to improve safety at level crossings (LCs), this guidance document sums up important practical information and recommendations collected and produced during the SAFER-LC project (SAFER Level Crossing by integrating and optimising road-rail infrastructure management and design) which lasted 3 years from 1 May 2017 to 30 April 2020.

There are two parts to the guidance: the first part of the document provides an overview on level crossing accidents and what we can learn from them. It also illustrates several tools that were developed in project SAFER-LC to assess the level of risk and the effectiveness of safety measures: the level crossing risk evaluation method, the Human Factors methodological framework, the safety evaluation framework of safety measures, and the financial evaluation framework of safety measures.

The second part of the document focuses on the actual evaluation of safety measures in project SAFER-LC and recommendations about their implementation. It gives an overview of the pilot test sites and provides examples of safety measures which were tested. These safety measures are presented with implementation tips, potential criticalities, examples, empirical evidence, etc. However, this document includes only a limited collection of the available measures for road and railway stakeholders.

The complete guidance on safety measures for level crossings and more examples are available in the online SAFER-LC toolbox: http://toolbox.safer-lc.eu/

This document is intended for guidance only. Its contents shall be neither considered as definitive nor as requirements. The measures provided as examples are likely to evolve over time and are to be used by road and railway stakeholders as seen fit and on their own responsibility.

This work has been carried out as part of the SAFER-LC project (https://safer-lc.eu/). This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 723205.