CLIENT
National Express Midlands Metro
YEAR COMPLETED
2017
BUILD TYPE
New Build
SERVICES PROVIDED
BWB worked closely with Midlands Metro to review their light rail route between Birmingham and Wolverhampton to identify any safety concerns.
Light rail currently falls between the gaps in terms of a safety audit process. The on-street sections are covered by the Road Safety Audit (RSA) process but mainly from a motorists, cyclists and pedestrian point of view but the off-street sections are not covered as part of the heavy rail safety review. As a result, BWB provided a complete safety audit service for the full route incorporating both on-street and off-street sections.
BWB first performed an independent safety review of the complete route, examining recorded collision and near-miss data to identify any potential issues or incident hot spots. The route was then examined from a driver's eye view, to identify any safety concerns related to the signage, procedures or locations where trams interact with vehicular traffic, cyclists and pedestrians.
Areas of interest were then identified to be examined in more detail where an additional site visit was undertaken to examine the issues and recommend potential solutions to each problem.
The report produced followed a similar format to that of the RSAs (as recommended by UK Standards for Highways Guidance GG119), but contained bespoke elements tailored for light rail applications.
Paul Wilson
Director - T&I Planning
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