The Austrian Railway Group
Level Crossings

The term Level Crossing is used to definite the infrastructure where the railway corsses some form of road on the level, and not by the use of a bridge, underpass or tunnel. They come in many forms, and this page shows and explains some of the more interesting.


a remote controlled full barrier LC [Zell am Zee] [MCB2 in UK terminology]


a manually controlled full barrier LC [Kitzbuhel] [MCB1 in UK terminilogy]


an automatic full barrier LC [Allerheiligen] [No UK designation -this type of installation is not permissible in the UK.]


an automatic open crossing [Allerheiligen Hst] [AOCR in UK terminology]

The small red/white post and red coloured backboard just to the right of the left side road traffic signal is a small shrine to the memory of the deceased from a previous fatal accident! [Not an unusual finding at level crossing sites]

Whilst this installation is operated locally, until fairly recently these were very common. Operation is by double wire transmission from a nearby block post, station or other level crossing, which could be up to 2 km away! The operating device at the control point is a winch like device having a winding handle. The mechanical bell usually has two hammers which are driven via an escapement device from the main transmission wires. Even if the crossing is not visible from the control point, nothing is provided to enable the operator to check that nothing was trapped on the crossing after the barriers were lowered. A very few now have CCTV for this purpose but these are the exception.
Schwarzach St Veit A Mechanische Vollschrankenanlage - mechanical full barrier crossing.
A post with both black and white slanting stripes and a steady yellow light signal is provided on each rail approach to enable train drivers to check if the crossing is working properly as they approach. If the road signals have been flashing for at least the minimum time, a (second) yellow light above the other one will begin to flash. These signals are prominent in the picture. Despite being in the control area of Zell am See station , I would not expect the station signalling to have any control over the crossing, its operation being entirely automatic. Whilst the two gauges over the crossing are unusual, in level crossing terms it is no different from a level crossing over quadruple track. Whilst this installation is operated locally, until fairly recently these were very common. Operation is by double wire transmission from a nearby block post, station or other level crossing, which could be up to 2 km away! The operating device at the control point is a winch like device having a winding handle. The mechanical bell usually has two hammers which are driven via an escapement device from the main transmission wires. Even if the crossing is not visible from the control point, nothing is provided to enable the operator to check that nothing was trapped on the crossing after the barriers were lowered. A very few now have CCTV for this purpose but these are the exception.
Tishlerhäusl with a halbschrankenanlage - an automatic half barrier crossing, locally monitored [ABCL in UK parlance].
Mechanische Vollschrankenanlage - hand operated mechanical full barriers [ MCB 1] . These were very common until recently, where the elimination of many intermediate block posts has resulted in these crossings being either automated or more usually eliminated completely by the provision of an underpass or overbridge.
Greis in Pongau is a locally operated Mechanische Vollschrankenanlage

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updated 24th January 2006
Design and © Ron Ferguson