Wednesday 30th October saw Park Signalling Ltd, Haywood and Jackson Fabrications Ltd and Unipart Rail come together to demonstrate products and solutions in a realistic environment at the Ecclesbourne Valley Railway in Derbyshire, to over thirty representatives of the UK railway industry.
The star of the show was the user worked crossing (UWC) solution called GateLock. Designed, developed and produced by Park Signalling Ltd and Haywood and Jackson Fabrications Ltd, GateLock is a glass reinforced plastic (GRP) manufactured gate and post solution, fitted with an electronic gate locking system. The gate and post are made of 100% recycled materials and can be colour matched to the individual requirements at each site.
Every year in the UK, there are numerous incidents and near misses at UWC’s. In the majority of cases, these incidents are caused through users not contacting the signaller at the controlling signalling centre and following verbal instructions. The GateLock solution contributes to greater control and increased discipline at UWC’s and has the potential to provide affordable risk mitigation and significantly reduce the risk of misuse at many UWC’s across the UK.
It is planned to have the first phase of this solution commercially available in 2020, subject to obtaining a Network Rail sponsor to support the Design for Reliability and Product Acceptance processes.
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