A driver accidentally turned onto the Tyne Wear Metro tracks in Newcastle on Monday evening.
Trains were suspended between Newcastle International Airport and South Gosforth to allow for the car to be safely removed. Nobody was injured.
The motorist drove onto the tracks at the Bank Foot level crossing. Police said nobody was harmed.
Similar incidents have happened in Kingston Park in 2018, in Bank Foot in 2015 and Callerton Parkway in 2013.
Read more: Car got stranded on Metro tracks at Bank Foot after wrong turn at level crossing
In July 2020, a car even collided with a train at Callerton Parkway.
The Metro differs from Network Rail-operated tracks in that its level crossings do not have barriers in the Newcastle area.
While barriers likely wouldn't have stopped Monday's driver from mistakenly turning onto the tracks - as they'd be raised to allow traffic through - you may be curious as to why the Metro doesn't have them in Newcastle and North Tyneside. There is one level crossing on the network that does have barriers, at East Boldon, but that section of the track is shared with Northern trains.
Why Metro level crossings in Newcastle don't have barriers
Level crossings at Callerton Parkway, Bank Foot, Kingston Park, Fawdon and Howdon do not have safety barriers. Red flashing lights and an alarm noise signal when trains are coming.
Nexus explained the reasons to ChronicleLive in 2018.
One reason for 'open crossings' on the Metro is practicality, services are frequent - up to one train every 12 minutes - so any barriers would have to be raised and lowered often, which could potentially cause traffic delay.
A Nexus spokesperson said: "As we run a 12-minute service across the Metro system it would mean lowering and raising barriers at much more frequent intervals than you would on Network Rail infrastructure.
"More generally, the law says we must reduce the risk at our level crossings to as a low a level that is reasonably practicable and we have achieved this by a programme of engineering enhancements. All of our crossings were refurbished in 2014/15 during an £800,000 project to improve safety at crossings. This included new warning lights for pedestrians, brighter stop lights for motorists, clearer road signs, road markings and tactile paving for the visually impaired.”
Another reason is that - unlike mainline trains - Metros always travel slowly through level crossings. The trains are limited to 15kph through level crossing sections and only one train will cross at a time. The Metros also have emergency brakes, which allow them to stop quickly.
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