Bagillt railway crossing near miss after signal failure

Network Rail said it took the incident very seriously and safety was paramount

A passenger train narrowly missed hitting a pedestrian after a signal mix-up, a report from the Rail Accident Investigation Branch has said.

The signals had not been set to stop trains approaching the crossing at Bagillt, Flintshire, on 17 August 2018.

A pedestrian shutting the gates after a lorry crossed was "alarmed to see the approaching train" and ran off the crossing, the RAIB said.

Network Rail said it took the incident very seriously.

The RAIB report said there were problems in the communication between the person helping the HGV to cross the tracks and the signaller, meaning the signaller was not told by the road users of the large size of the vehicle and did not ask.

Network Rail was also unaware the "exceptionally heavy vehicle" used the crossing regularly, the report said.

'Safety is paramount'

The company's processes did not provide "railway staff or road users with a coherent and consistent process for deciding when a vehicle should be treated as 'large'", it said.

It recommended Network Rail improve its management processes for user-worked crossings with phones.

A Network Rail spokesperson said safety was paramount and it had worked closely with the RAIB on the report.

"The investigation has made recommendations and we will consider, in depth, what steps we can take to further improve on our safety measures," the company added.