Rail barriers get stuck down at Wem level crossing
Rail barriers at a level crossing in Wem were stuck down for a number of hours today causing traffic problems in the town.
Reports came in at about 12pm that the barrier at Soulton Road, in Wem, was stuck in the downward position causing long tailbacks for drivers.
A Network Rail spokesperson said: "The issue at Wem was caused by a fault to a recently installed piece of signalling equipment that controls the safe operation of the crossing barriers. As a result the signalling system switched to safe mode, which in turn closed the barriers at Wem. Our engineers attended the crossing and were able to raise the gates around one hour after they closed.
"We apologise for the disruption caused by the signalling failure. Whilst signalling failures of this nature are not a common occurrence, they can happen from time to time. When such a fault occurs we always aim to get a specialist team out to identify and fix the problem as quickly as possible. In this instance, we will also be sending the faulty equipment for analysis."
The crossing has a history of problems with the barriers either failing to close or staying down for too long.
