On 18/08/17 16:10, Richard Youltressteleg@... [TramsDownUnder]
wrote:
>

> I suspect British rail crossings, of which I don't think there are

> many, have some similar procedure to Germany.

>

Many UK gates now have predictive timers. If the gate is down too long
people drive around them. Germany would have gotten away with it as the
Germans were generally a rule abiding peoples. However modern impatience
has probably 'fixed' that.

> So next time you are delayed in your car or bus for a minute or two

> waiting for the train, be extremely grateful you don't have German

> crossing rules!!


Last year I was watching a crossing on the former OEG line near
Heidelberg (waiting for a contact to turn up and let us into the depot
that holds their heritage fleet). Large station spacing and trams racing
through fields of corn. The crossing was definitely predictive or
approach track circuit activated and not 'previous station' as the trams
came through only 10s of seconds after the gate had lowered. And at the
nearby station departing trams had to pull forward and trip the approach
circuit and then almost stop and wait for the crossing to cycle. There
was 100m or so, so a canny driver could just crawl towards the crossing
(The interurban lines operate under railway rules and the trams are
equipped with primitive type of APT, so charging towards the still open
crossing gates would probably result in a penalty brake application)