Method for Evaluation of Grade Crossings

Method for Evaluation of Grade Crossings Renata Cristina do Carmo Railway Engineer MRS Logistics, Juiz de Fora, MG, Brazil Vânia Barcellos Gouvêa Campos Railroad Specialist Military Institute of Engineering, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil Jorge Eduardo Guimarães Railway Engineer MRS Logistics, Juiz de Fora, MG, Brazil Summary: Grade crossings are crossings of road and railroad. They are points of high risk and, even the frequency of railroad accidents being smaller than other transportation modals, the gravity of the accidents is high. Physical improvements must be made to provide safer conditions in crossings. The choice of the improvement to be implemented in each situation depends on the conditions of the place, based in parameters that influence the security of each passage. In this work, from identification of parameters that influence in security of crossings, a method for evaluation of them is considered, aiming to determine a Critical Index (CI). Based on this index is possible to prioritize the crossings that need intervention and, the type of intervention to be used, aiming to reduce the risks for users. To reach the proposal of this index, different methods of analysis of grade crossings, used for Railroad Companies, presented in literature has been researched. Index Terms: Safety, grade crossings, critical index 1. INTRODUCTION Grade crossing, according to National Code of Transit (CNT), Law number 9,03, of 23 of September of 1997, is all crossing of level between a way and a railway line or track of tram with proper track. In accordance with Article 10, of Decree 1,832, 0 of March of 1996, the Railroad Administration will not be able to hinder the passage of its lines for other ways, previous or later established, having the crossing points to be fixed for the Railroad Administration, in view of the security of the traffic railroad and observed the norms and the current law. To take care of to this Article the railroad companies have that to establish the linking of the two sides of the city for it divided, through inferior crossings, viaducts and grade crossings. In this way, grade crossings are important crossings of two modal of transportation: the road and the railroad. These crossings are points of high risk and, even if the frequency of railroad accidents is inferior of accidents of other modal road, the gravity index is raised. In these cases, the index of loss of lives, wounds and damages are very alarming, especially, due to differences between the involved vehicles, which is, a railroad composition and a road vehicle. An aggravating fact to the risks in crossings is the fact that railroad composition is not to be able to stop immediately, needing a long stretch to win inertia and to reduce the speed. In accordance with data supplied by MRS Logistic railroad, in 2001 they had been registered 0 collisions and 6 running over the grade crossings. In 200, they had been 21 collisions and 0 running over, that is, a 37,7% reduction. Although this reduction, the number of accidents is very raised yet. The consequences of these accidents are collisions with material damages and/or wounds and/or deaths of people as well as, running over with wounds and/or deaths. This situation causes suffering of people, the increase of incumbencies for the society, the consuming of the image of the railroad companies. In accordance with the Committee of Planning of ANTF - Association National de Railroad Transportation, in Brazil there are about 12,00 grade crossings, and the operators consider 2,03 critical. Among the critical ones, 13 grade crossings had been considered with priority, therefore beyond collisions and running over, the condition of these crossings force the reduction of the speed of the trains in

these stretches, what reduces the competitiveness of the railroads. Many factors can contribute for occurrences of accidents in grade crossings. Physical factors, related to the area of the crossing, operational factors of the road and railroad traffic, and human factors, related to the way that drivers and pedestrians react to the joined conditions. Number of railway lines Railroad Traffic Volume History of Accidents Slope In relation to the human factors, involving drivers and pedestrians, it is necessary measured of medium and long run, aiming for awareness of the risks involved in grade crossings. However, physical improvements must be made to provide safer conditions in grade crossings. The choice of the type of improvement to be implemented in each situation depends on the conditions of each place, based in some parameters that influence in security of each passage. Thus, it becomes necessary to identify the parameters that influence the risk of accidents on the crossings and to adopt criteria for evaluation of the same ones. Thus, it will be possible to classify grade crossings in function of a critical index and to prioritize the measures to be implemented. 3. INDICATORS OF ANALYSIS OF GRADE CROSSINGS There are three indicators of analysis of Grade Crossings exist: Degree of Importance (DI), specified for Brazilian Norm NB 1238 (1989), Weighed Factor of Accidents (FPA) - NBR 1239 (1989) - and Moment of Circulation (K), NB 666 (1989). 3.1. Degree of Importance (DI) Degree of Importance (DI) relates to the flow of road vehicles and the amount of trains that pass on crossing per day, with a representative factor of the operational conditions of the grade crossing: 2. FACTORS OF RISK IN GRADE CROSSINGS The physical characteristics of the area around the grade crossing is, as well as the operational aspects of the railroad and road traffic in the area, influence the occurrence of situations of risks and, consequently, possible accidents. There are some types of protection to be used in grade crossings. The choice of the type to be adopted will depend on the characteristics of the place and the factors that can bring risks to the grade crossing such as: Where: DI = f x T x V (1) f = representative factor of the conditions of visibility, characteristics of localization and composition of transit of the grade crossing, varies between 1 and 2. T = amount of railroad vehicles that cross the grade crossing, in both the directions, per day. Type of Roads Number of Lanes Conditions of the Pavement Road Traffic Volume Transit of Pedestrians Authorized Maximum Speed in the Roads Illumination Visibility Distance of Stopped Visibility Triangle V = volume of road vehicles that cross the grade crossing, in both the directions, per day. Factor f is gotten through an evaluation of factors such as: visibility, slope, average speed of the trains and road vehicles, transit of trucks, bus, cars and pedestrians in the grade crossing. The corresponding values of these factors are weighed to get factor f. In accordance with the value of DI, it can be made a preliminary selection of the type of protection to be used, in agreement Table 1:

Table 1 Recommended protection in accordance with the Degree of Importance DI Recommended Protection DI 20,000 SOS DI 20,000 SMG - SML SAG - SAL Source: Procedure N-DSE.017 RFFSA The type of protection defined in Table 1 has the following characteristics: SOS without advertisement of train approach (passive signaling, only plates) SMG manual signaling with keep-cancels (flags, cancel manuals, defendant for keep-cancels it, without way circuit) SML manual signaling without keep-cancels (defendant in the distance, of station, for example, without way circuit) SAG Automatic signaling with keep-cancels (defendant for the way circuit) SAL Automatic signaling without keep-cancels (drive for the track circuit) 3.2. Weighed Factor of Accidents (WFA) The Weighed Factor of Accidents is used for calculation the potential of risk of a grade crossing in function of the accidents in last the years, calculated for the formula: Where: WFA = 9,M + 3,F + D (2) WFA Weighed Factor of Accidents in function of the accidents in last the years M = Number of accidents with death, in five years. F = Number of accidents with wounded, in five years. D = Number of accidents with material damage, in five years. In accordance with the Brazilian Manual of Hi-Rail Crossings (1979), the WFA represents the intensity and the severity of the accidents in the grade crossings during the last five years. A crossing with high WFA presents danger potential and, consequently, it requires more complete and efficient improvements. The values of the Weighed Factor of Accidents waited for typical conditions, can be determined by the analysis of the accidents occurred in a crossing with similar characteristics to the crossing in study. Where such analysis will not be possible, generalized values of Weighed Factor of Accidents (WFA T ), for years, in typical conditions, are adopted. By comparing the WFA calculated for years with the typical for similar crossings, it can be concluded that the PN has a raised FPA, and so it need improvements. That is, if WFA > WFA T the grade crossing presents a raised WFA, and consequently, it has more dangerous conditions than the waited for typical conditions, and requires immediate interventions for improvements. 3.3 Moment of Circulation (K) The Moment of circulation (K), as well as the DI, is function of the volume of traffic road and railroad and calculated by the formula: Where: K = (V D x T D + 1, V N x T N ) x L (3) K = Moment of circulation VD = Volume of road vehicles during the day V N = Volume of road vehicles during the night T D = Amount of trains during the day T N = Amount of trains during the night L = Factor of adjustment for the amount of railway ways The Moment of Circulation is an important indicator as it aids to make decisions about the necessary improvement that have to be made aiming to minimize the risks of accidents in a crossing. The Table 2 presents the improvement proposals in function of the Moment of Circulation for a grade crossing in rural area and, Table 3, present the improvements for crossings in urban area, as showed ahead.

Table 2 Improvement proposals in function of the Moment of Circulation for a grade crossing (GC) in rural area No electric Electric Road Classification K - (10³) Class 0 Class I Class II Class III Class IV 0-1b 1b 1a 1a For this type of road, GC is - 2 2b 2b 2a 2a not allowed. In case of 2-0 2c 2c 2a 2a occurrences, it is necessary 0 2d 2d 2c 2b to protect it with dual gate 0-1b 1b 1a 1a arms until that GC can be - 2 separate with unleveling 3b or 3b or 2a 2a 2-0 crossing. 3c 3b or 3b 3b 0 3e 3e Table 3 Improvement proposals in function of the Moment of Circulation for a grade crossing (GC) in urban area No electric Electric Roads Classification K - (10³) Pedestrian Arterial Collecting Local ways Need Ways Ways Roads 0-1b 1b 1a - 2 2c 1b 1a 2-0 2c 2c 2a 0 2d 2c 2b 0 - - 2 2-0 0 For this type of road, GC is not allowed. In with dual gate arms until that GC can be 1b 3b 1b 3b 3c 3e 1a 2c case of occurrences, it is necessary to protect it separate with unleveling crossing. 3d 3f 3c Table Types of Protection Type of Protection Description 0 Protection of a particular grade crossing 1a Simple Protection 1b Simple protection, enclosed signalling of 2a Manual maker 2b Manual dual gate arms 2c Manual maker with warning signalling 2d Manual dual gate arms with warning sinaling Bell with manual control 3b Flashing lights with manual control 3c Bell and flashing lights with manual control 3d Bell and dual gate arms with manual control 3e Flashing lights and manual dual gate arms 3f campainha, sinal luminoso e cancela manual Bell and flashing lights with automatic control Automatic dual gate arms Source: NBR 8736 (198) - Protection to grade crossings in railways. CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF THE INDICATORS As it was said, the potentiality of risk in a grade crossing is related to the previously mentioned parameters. Some of these parameters are used in the calculation of indicators as the WFA, the DI and the K. The Table, presents a summary of the parameters considered in each one of the pointers: Table - Relation between Pointers and Parameters Parameters DI WFA K Type of Roads X X Road Traffic Volume X X Maximum Speed Allowed X Pedestrians Transit X Visibility Distance of Stopped X Number of Lines X X Volume of Road Traffic X X Hystory of Accidents X Grade X

Among the physical factors used in the indicators, it is are not included some factors of risk, like: Number of lanes; Local Illumination; Conditions of the pavement. The DI relates the volume of road vehicles (v) and the amount of trains that pass the crossing (t) per one day with a representative factor f of the physical conditions of the grade crossing. The Moment of Circulation relates the volume of road vehicles (V D and V N ) with the amount of trains (T D and T N ), during the day and the night, multiplied for L, a factor of adjustment for the amount of railway ways. However, the Moment of Circulation is more specific to the determination of the road and railroad flows, since intent for the differences between the day and night traffic. Moment of circulation considers only one physical characteristics of the grade crossing, the number of railway lines in the crossing, leaving to also observe other important parameters. The indicating Weighed Factor of Accidents (WFA) represents the intensity and the severity of the accidents in grade crossings during the last five years. The Weighed Factor of Accidents is an indicator of the potentiality of risk of a grade crossing in function of facts occurred in the past, however, the current characteristics of railroad and road circulation are not observed, as well as the physical characteristics of the crossing are not analyzed.. THE PROPOSED METHOD OF EVALUATION OF GRADE CROSSING To correctly evaluate the security offered to the users of grade crossings is necessary to relate all the physical elements. For this, a method is proposed that fortifies the positive points of the displayed indicators and relates the physical characteristics, not considered for these indicators. This tool has intention to improve the conditions of security offered to the users of grade crossings and to define the type of signaling correctly to be used. the risk parameters, in order to define the adequate protection on the basis of the real conditions of the crossing. Thus, based on the Degree of Importance and the Moment of Circulation indicators, it is proposed the Critical Index as: CI = f x (V D x T D + 1, V N x T N ) () The calculation of CI fortifies the strong points of the two pointers, that is, factor f, the representative physical conditions of the grade crossing used in the Degree of Importance, and a relation amount of trains x volume of road vehicles more complete, as made for the Moment of Circulation. Moreover, in the calculation of new factor f physic characteristics, which were usually not analyzed, are included. Thus, for the calculation of factor f, it is used the table 6 where a physical evaluation of grade crossing is made by multiplying the value of the parameter for its weight and dividing the total sum by 100. In this table, the physical characteristics, which do not use for calculating the factor f of the Degree of Importance, are included. To define the weights of the new parameters, a questionnaire was elaborated with the objective that specialists on Railroad Engineering evaluate the influence of these characteristics of the crossing for the security. The result gotten through the formularization of the CI has the same order of magnitude of the Moment of Circulation, since factor L was substituted, and varies in function of the line number from 1 to 1,, for new factor f, that varies between 1 and 2. Therefore, with the value of the CI it can be used Tables 2 and 3 to determine the type of improvement to be adopted in each grade crossing. The difference is that the entrance data, that is, the CI, are more consistent than the K, since it considers others physical factors that influence in the security of the crossings. For application of Critical Index (CI), it has been started of a physical evaluation of grade crossing. Based on this inspection, gets all the relative data to the flows of vehicles and trains that pass on the crossing, beyond the physical parameters that are considered for calculation of factor f. These data are evaluated and from them, the Critical Index is calculated (CI). With the results, it is used Tables 2 and 3 are used to choose the specific improvement for the evaluated the grade crossing. Considering that Moment of Circulation (K) and Degree of Importance (DI) have the same basic concept, that is, the relation between volume of vehicles road and amount of trains that passes for crossing, but both do not consider parameters related to the security in grade crossings, in the proposed method, based on these indicators, is considered all

TABLE 6 - Calculation of factor f 01 above 300m 2 02 Visibility (10 a 300)m 3 10 03 below 10m 0 below 3% 2 0 Maximum slope (3 a )% of road approach 3 06 above % 07 below 0km/h 2 Authorized 08 maximum speed (0 a 80)km/h 3 in the railroad 09 above 80km/h 10 one line 2 11 Number of railway lines two lines 3 12 three or more 13 below 0km/h 2 Authorized 1 maximum speed (0 a 80)km/h 3 in the roads 1 above 80km/h 2 up to % 2 26 Transit of Pedestrians ( a 20)% 3 27 above 20% 28 one line 2 29 Number of Lines two lines 3 30 three or more 31 Inexistent 2 32 Conditions of the Not Regular Pavement 3 33 Regular 3 Inexistent 2 3 Illumination Insufficient 3 36 Efficient 37 Total Crossing Characteristics Value 1 2 Weight of Final Value Importance (2x3) 3 7 7 6 2 6. CONCLUSIONS The MRS Logística S.A. railroad crosses three Brazilian states and more than a hundred of cities and, today there are more than 600 grade crossings. The number of accidents in crossings is reducing throughout the years, but it is still an alarming value. To reduce the number of occurrences and to increase the level of security offered to the users of grade crossings, it is necessary to make physical improvements in the area of the

crossing, as well as the adequacy of the signaling. Therefore, it was looked to develop an Index for evaluation of the physical characteristics of the area, with intention to determine the type of improvement to be implemented in each crossing. It was made a study of the parameters that have more influence on the conditions of security in the area of grade crossings and of the main indicators found in technique norms of the Brazilian Association of Norms Techniques - ABNT and, finally, the way as they become related. From this study, a Critical Index is considered (CI) a method that fortifies the positive points of each pointer as well as relates the main physical characteristics. Critical Index (CI) considered presents a progress for the choice of the signaling to be applied. It is a method that considers all the physical aspects related the security of a grade crossing and still considers the positive points of the known indicators. It makes possible the determination of the signaling most appropriate and helps to prioritize the interventions to be done. Moreover, the use of the CI also makes possible to classify and to identify those crossings, that present most risks and to define the more objective form of the problem. This problem must be treated in the same ones, searching a reduction of the number of accidents and, consequently, a reduction of costs. This reduction of costs will not only comes with the reduction of accidents, but also with the more adjusted choice of the signaling. 7. ACKNOWLEDMENTS To MRS Logistic S.A. for this chance of development. To IME (Military Institute of Engineering), in special to the teachers of the Course of Expertise in Railroad Freight Transport, for the received attention and support. To my parents for the constant incentive and to my sister for the example. To Patrick for the support and understanding. 8. REFERENCES ABNT Associação Brasileira de Normas Técnicas NB- 11 Passagem de Nível Pública Norma Brasileira, 1979. ABNT Associação Brasileira de Normas Técnicas NB 1238 Determinação do grau de importância da travessia rodoviária através de via férrea Norma Brasileira, 1989. ABNT Associação Brasileira de Normas Técnicas NB- 1239 Determinação do fator ponderado de acidentes de travessia rodoviária em passagem de nível através de via férrea Norma Brasileira, 1989. ABNT Associação Brasileira de Normas Técnicas NBR 112 Via férrea Travessia Identificação Norma Brasileira, 1998. ABNT Associação Brasileira de Normas Técnicas NBR 8736 Proteção para passagem de nível rodoviário em via férrea Classificação Norma Brasileira, 198. Brasil, Decreto 1.832 de 0 de março de 1996, Aprova o Regulamento dos Transportes Ferroviários - RTF, Diário Oficial da União, Brasília, 1996. Brasil, Lei nº 9.03 de 23 de setembro de 1997, Código Nacional de Trânsito, Diário Oficial da União, Brasília, 1997. Buzelin, J. C., Coelho, E. J. and Setti, J. B., A Ferrovia de Minas, Rio e São Paulo, Memória do Trem, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, 2002. Colleman III, F.; Eck, R.; Russel, E., Railroad-way Grade Crossings A Look Forward. Manual de Cruzamentos Rodoferroviários, Coleção Serviços de Engenharia, Departamento Nacional de Trânsito, 2ª edição, Brasília, DF, 1987. Rede Ferroviária Federal S.A., Passagem de Nível Terminologia e Classificação, Concessão, Projeto, Manutenção, Cadastro & Inspeção, N-DSE-016-19, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, 1986. Tamayo, A., Procedimento para Avaliação da Segurança de Tráfego em Vias Urbanas, Dissertação (Mestrado em Engenharia de Transportes), Instituto Militar de Engenharia, 2006. U.S. Department of Transportation, Guidance on Traffic Control Devices at way-rail Grade Crossings, November, 2002. U.S. Department of Transportation, Railroad-way Grade Crossing Handbook, 2 nd edition, September, 1986.