Technolight Knowledge base


Safety at level crossings

We actively support initiatives to improve safety at railway-road crossings. As Technolight, we were a sponsor, as well as an exhibitor at the 10th Polish National Scientific and Technical Conference ‘Solutions of railway-road crossings at rail level in legal, economic, and technical aspects’.

The organizers of the event – SITK RP Częstochowa Branch and PKP PLK S.A., since the first conference in 2004, have been guided by one goal, and that is to improve safety at railroad crossings. Periodically, key people and industry players are invited to the conference. This year’s conference was held June 5-7 in Zawiercie and attracted about 250 participants. The event was honored by the presence of, among others, the Polish Undersecretary of State in the Ministry of Infrastructure, Piotr Malepszak.  

The main goal of the conference is to push for real legislative changes to improve safety at the intersection of railroads and roads. Many of the concepts developed at the event have been successfully implemented in Poland, including the ‘Safe Crossing’ campaign or the so-called yellow sticker, which is placed on each crossing on the horn drives, in places visible to road users.

During the conferenceour company was represented by its owner, Tomasz Matkowski. Technolight has extensive experience in the design and implementation of railroad lighting throughout Poland. We are always happy to share our experiences. In doing so, we emphasize how important a role in improving safety at rail-road crossings is played by the proper selection of lighting in terms of luminous parameters, durability, and trouble-free operation.  At our booth, each of the participants of the event could get acquainted with our offer of modern luminaires, which are dedicated to the railroad industry and have the relevant approvals.

During the eventexperts focused among other things on what has a direct impact on the behavior of traffic participants and the manning of rail vehicles. Among other things, there was extensive discussion of crossing control systems, the functionality of video radars, marking systems, or the effectiveness of using modern crossing designs to reduce the threshold effect at crossings. Also discussed was the division of responsibilities between rail and road services in terms of their proper maintenance.

Technolight’s presentation on the concept of permanent lighting of rail-road crossings resulted in the conference’s request to prepare rules for the lighting of rail-road crossings in the direction of accentuating with permanent lighting crossings operating especially in the downtown structure. Here, the distinction in color and intensity of lighting will draw the attention of the driver to the crossing zone. As is currently the case with pedestrian crossings on roads and streets, special white lights (5700K) and a complex double asymmetry of special pedestrian crossing lighting fixtures are installed.

Technolight will take an active part in promoting such solutions. During the conference, we declared active participation in prototype solutions for such implementations to raise awareness and understanding of such installations.