Questionnaire on road signs at level crossings.
This item was largely discussed in the GLCN session in October 2023 in Frankfurt.
We saw in the DB AG presentation that both road signs with the "steam locomotive" and the "garden barrier" would no longer be installed at new LCs in Germany. Those signs are identified as Numbers A25 and A26a in the UNECE 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals that was signed by UNECE member countries in the EU and on other continents.
UIC (Isabelle Fonverne) mentioned The “UNECE Group of Experts on level crossing safety (GE1)” created at the initiative of UIC in 2014 composed of Member states delegates and LC experts of our group under the umbrella of the UNECE WP1 on road traffic safety. The GE1 delivered a final report of recommendations early 2017 in EN/FR/RU
https://unece.org/fileadmin/DAM/trans/doc/2017/wp1/ECE-TRANS-WP1-2017-4e.pdf
https://unece.org/fileadmin/DAM/trans/doc/2017/wp1/ECE-TRANS-WP1-2017-4f.pdf
Our UNECE GE1 also requested at that time from the other UNECE subgroup on road signs and signals under the UNECE WP1 on road traffic safety to change precisely the road signs shown by DB AG.
In response to a previous proposal to update the signs, the UN advised that : “as long as there is no evidence proving that LC users do not understand or mis-understand those signs, the existing steam engine and barrier symbol should be retained.” And it is still the case.
Our conclusions in our GLCN meeting in October were that we must dispose of some evidence proving that there is a need to reopen the debate with UNECE.
This is why we invite most of you to answer the following questionnaire with a deadline fixed to January 31, 2024. Please fill in the form