Rail crossing barriers stuck down on Sleaford to Metheringham line after signalling failure

Lincolnshire Police have reported rail crossing barriers are stuck, blocking traffic on crossings between Sleaford and Metheringham with traffic backing up.

A police spokesman went on to say all train barriers are currently down on the Sleaford side of Metheringham apart from Metheringham itself.

The issue was first reported at 12.33pm this afternoon when motorists raised concerns that the red warning lights were flashing and the barriers were not down with drivers taking a risk and crossing anyway, explained the spokesman.

Network Rail engineers attended and lowered the barriers as well reporting a signalling failure linking all the barriers on the computerised system. In certain areas engineers are manually operating the barriers to allow traffic through.

A Network Rail spokesperson said: “This afternoon saw several axle counters fail within a very short period of time. Axle counters detect train wheels as they pass over and when the counters fail it means nearby level crossings are closed to road users for their safety.

“Unfortunately on this occasion, several level crossings in the Sleaford, Ruskington, Metheringham area were affected by the fault and we apologise for the inconvenience caused by this. Our teams have been repairing the axle counters throughout the afternoon and will continue to work throughout the night to get the network back to normal as soon as possible.”

He said that most crossings are now open and the rest should be open within the hour.