Hazardous road design

Railtrack should conduct a safety examination of the layout over 0-2 miles from Paddington Station so as to satisfy the HMRI, if necessary by a risk assessment and additional measures, that it is safe for operation at current speeds and to current traffic arrangements. Such a safety examination should be repeated before the implementation of any change which...

Areas where ambiguity in the meaning of “very short duration” may have caused, or may still cause, problems should be identified. There should be a retrospective review of all locations where this may be the case, so that appropriate action may be taken (para 11.14).

The standard on signal sighting should explicitly define the cab sight lines within which signals must be positioned by reference to the envelop governing the position of the driver’s eye which is specified for each particular rolling stock (para 11.17).

The standard on signal sighting should define acceptable limits to the temporary obscuration of a signal, subject to the overriding right of a signal sighting committee to determine whether the nature and extent of the interruption in the individual case is such that the sighting is unacceptable (para 11.16).

The expression “overhead line equipment” in the Group Standard on signal sighting should be clarified by the statement that it refers only to wires and droppers (para 11.16).

The reference to “very short duration” in the standard on signal sighting should be clarified (para 11.14).

The standard on signal sighting should deal explicitly with the additional time required for the reading of certain signals, including (but not necessarily limited to) those mounted on gantries (para 11.13).

The standard on signal sighting should require that explicit consideration is to be given to the readability of a signal. It should be made clear that the fact that a signal complies with a minimum requirement is not of itself to be taken as meaning that it is adequate (para 11.13).