In message , at
10:42:00 on Fri, 30 Dec 2005, Colin Rosenstiel
remarked:

The railway doesn't have a problem. Road users who find the
crossings almost always closed have a problem.

Sometimes open is better than closed entirely. If this is the only
issue, I do wonder why some people (yourself included) are
advocating closure.

Because money is being leeched away from the railway in the road
interest.

I wouldn't describe "keeping level crossings open" as leeching money
away from the railway. In any event, there is no longer any pretence
that the railway is a public service. It is a set of private
companies operating for profit. No-one forced any of the ToCs to bid.
They understand the nature of the business, and must take the rough
with the smooth.

Er, level crossings is infrastructure, responsibility of Network Rail.
That's a not for profit company that struggles to avoid being defined
as the public sector, using increasingly implausible smoke and mirrors.
You wait till they can't pay back their debts.

And where do they get their income? The ToCs.

Anyway the problem isn't keeping level crossings open. It's keeping
them closed long enough to allow modern traffic levels to pass without
long delays. That's a highway problem.

I think you have confused "open" as in "still operational" with "open"
as in "gates across the railway line" and "open" as in "gates cross the
road".

Even to the extent that railway problems cannot be resolved, like
restoring the full footbridge at North Sheen.

What's happening at North Sheen?

They only have half a footbridge. It's an island platform with a level
crossing adjacent but passengers from one side have to cross the line
by the level crossing to reach the footbridge to access the platforms.
The MP has been complaining there is no money to restore the other half
of the footbridge.

And that's a *highways* problem??
--
Roland Perry