The government is investing £65 million between 2014-2019 to improve safety on Britain’s level crossings.
Last week, a driver was killed in Norfolk after a train hit his car on a user-worked crossing near Downham Market.
In the past five years, there have been 44 deaths at level crossings.
The £65 million investment was announced in the government’s High Level Output Specification (HLOS) which was made public today (July 16).
Network Rail is aiming to close 250 level crossings by April 2014, having recently marked the 500th level crossing closure in less than three years.
A Network Rail spokesman said: “While this is good progress, there is much more to be done. We aim to close a further 250 by April 2014 and we will work to further improve other crossings across the network and continue to raise awareness of the dangers of misuse.
“Closing a level crossing is not always an easy process, and we often need the support of land owners, local authorities and users. I hope we can count on their continued support as we look to improve safety and modernise the rail network for the future.”
Network Rail is currently running the Rail Life campaign to try and raise awareness among young people about the danger posed by level crossings.
