Improving level crossing safety with satellite technology

The LeCross study assessed and proved the concept of a new satellite enabled system that enables railway infrastructure mangers to deliver up-to-date reliable information of approaching trains to road users at currently unprotected passive level crossings. The specification of this was established through interaction with a range of stakeholders in Finland, the United Kingdom and the Czech Republic, including the Rail Infrastructure Managers who ultimately hold both the procurement budgets and liabilities for level crossings The proposed LeCross solution is a low-cost trackside warning system that can be easily deployed to remote level crossing sites to provide road users timely information about approaching trains. The solution takes advantage of the communications coverage via satellite already available at these locations coupled with built-in power supply to remove the need for any existing infrastructure at the site. Satellite communications offer connectivity independent of terrestrial infrastructure to improve coverage, reliability and capacity.