COSTAIN HAS won a contract from Network Rail to design and develop an enhanced warning technology to reduce risk at footpath and bridleway level crossings.
Going by the name Project Meerkat, the enhanced warning devices will detect an oncoming train and provide an audible and visible warning to alert users. Work is already underway to design the system, with the first units expected to be installed within the next 12 months. The new system is intended to have the required level of reliability to allow the removal of whistle boards informing the driver of the need to sound a train’s horn on the approach to crossings.
The contract, valued at just over £40 million, will run for an initial five-year term with a potential extension of up to three years.
