Poole (High Street) Level Crossing, Dorset

Date filmed: 30/07/2019
Route: South Western Main Line
- Poole is the closest station
Location: High Street (Pedestrianised), Poole
Trains: Class 444 (South Western Railway) - 2:10
Class 444 (South Western Railway) - 3:08
The very busy and rather notorious level crossing located on the pedestrianised high street in Poole Town Centre. This is the most misused level crossing in Dorset, with numerous pedestrians ignoring the warnings during a typical lowering despite the footbridge next to this level crossing, and numerous plans to close this level crossing permanently over the years have not gone ahead due to the surroundings, specifically the expense and time it would take to provide and complete a suitable alternative to the level crossing on this busy high street. This level crossing is monitored and controlled from Basingstoke, which is around 60 miles from this level crossing. Despite being pedestrianised, it is set-up like a normal road level crossing since it was previously a normal road level crossing many years ago, as it has four LED wigwags, and there are also four LED pedestrian lights here as well as two alarms which both sound at a fair volume, and one of these alarms sounded with a slightly wobbly tone at the time this video was recorded. Two long full-width barriers located opposite each other, each with supporter arms, block of the high street for trains to pass along the rather curved railway around this level crossing.
A few minutes of the lowering have been cut from this video.
Thanks for watching!

[@trainsonthebrain]

Love the old school footbridge still in situ. Lovely part of the world too!

[@daciatravel.647]

Great video!

[@trainstrainstrains40]

One of my local LCs! Nice video! 😁

[@NELincsTrainspotting]

Great video 👍

[@trainsdu4940]

That famous crossing, the most misused crossing in Dorset (if not in the whole country). Wobbly alarm back in summer 2019, I don't know the state of this alarm now in 2020/2021...

[@OttoFeher]

Nice

[@SgtChip]

Thought I recognized the name! It is indeed stupid. Why risk your life jumping the barriers when there's a footbridge right next to you?