Railned Spoorwegveiligheid has proposed a number of safety measures for AHB (Automatic Half Barrier) devices. In a pilot study Railinfrabeheer has technically developed and implemented two of these measures. They are respectively the application of enlarged background shields with a white border on warning lights and the application of flashlights on pre-warning devices. Railinfrabeheer wants to know if these measures indeed increase the visual conspicuity of an AHB device. At two railway crossings (near Krabbendijke and Nuenen) the current background shields were replaced by enlarged versions with a white border. At two other crossings (in Deurne and Meerssen) the current warning lights were replaced by flashlights. In Deurne flashlights of type RS2000 12V 20923 were used, and in Meerssen Rapidfire 75 LED flashlights were applied. The visual conspicuity of each of these four railway crossings was measured in the daytime and at dusk, both for the old and the new configuration. The results showed that the conspicuity of warning lights equipped with enlarged background shields with a white border does not differ significantly from the conspicuity of lights equipped with the existing (smaller) shields. Flashlights of type RS2000 12V 20923 are significantly more conspicuous than the warning lights that are currently in use. The conspicuity of Rapidfire 75 LED flashlights does not differ significantly from the conspicuity of warning lights that are currently in use. It is concluded that the visual conspicuity of AHB devices can not be increased significantly by applying enlarged background shields with a white border. Rapidfire 75 LED flashlights are of similar conspicuity as current warning lights. Flashlights of type RS2000 12 V 20923 considerably increase the conspicuity of a railway crossing. (Author/publisher)
Abstract