Near miss at Peterborough level crossing caused as signaller 'forgot' train was coming
An investigation has found that a near miss at a level crossing close to Peterborough happened because a signaller ‘forgot’ that a train was approaching.
A number of drivers and other road users/pedestrians narrowly avoided what could have been a serious incident on October 21, 2025.
At around 8:16am, he crossing barriers were raised in front of waiting road vehicles as a freight train arrived at the crossing. The train then entered the crossing while the barriers were rising.
The barriers subsequently became fully raised, and the wig-wag lights extinguished, before the barriers were again lowered. Fortunately, no one was injured but several people including pedestrians, those on bikes and in cars were left shaken up.
Following this, an investigation was launched by the Rail Accident Investigation Branch with the intention to publish a safety digest in light of the incident.
The investigation has now published its findings.
The investigation found that the barriers has been raised manually by the signaller on duty who had “forgot” that an additional train was passing through the crossing.
At 8:12am, signalling data shows that the signaller started the crossing lowering sequence for three trains that were approaching. Once only two of these had passed through, however, the barrier controls were then set to manual operation and the signaller attempted to raise the barriers with the final freight trains still approaching.
With the signaller having forgotten that a third train was coming, when he was unable to raise the barriers, he assumed they had a fault had developed and used a special release to raise the barriers. In reality, the barriers would not raise because they had detected the presence of the third train coming from the Stamford Lines.
The investigation found that the signaller did not check that line when looking out of the window.
The report states that: “The signaller found that they were unable to raise the barriers. This was because the interlocking had detected the freight train approaching on the Up Stamford line and was preventing this from happening, however, the signaller had forgotten that this train was approaching and assumed that the barriers had developed a fault. This was based on a recent barrier failure which they had experienced with this level crossing.
"Believing that they were dealing with an equipment failure, the signaller decided to use the sealed release plunger to raise the barriers. The paper seal which should have covered the plunger was already broken and had been left inside the plunger access hole. Documentary evidence shows that this seal had been broken on 4 July 2025 and that, while this had been logged by the signaller on duty, it had not been reported for repair.”
The barriers then began to rise just five seconds before the train came across the crossing. As soon as the signaller saw the train approaching, they lowered the barriers once again.
At the time of the incident, the signaller was working a 6am to 6pm shift and that a Local Operations Manager was present in the signal box to carry out a routine visit.
The report starts that it was possible that the signaller was distracted by the presence of the manager.
The full report can be viewed on the government website at www.gov.uk/government/publications/safety-digest-012026-helpston/near-miss-at-helpston-manually-controlled-barrier-level-crossing-21-october-2025.