Acton Central Level Crossing, Greater London

Borough: London Borough of Ealing

Date filmed: Friday the 15th of December 2023
Videos filmed at: 14:11 | 14:29 | 14:41

Route: London Overground 'Mildmay Line'
Acton Central (ACC) Station

Crossing type: Manually Controlled Barrier crossing with CCTV (MCB-CCTV)

Location: East Churchfield Road, Acton
Trains featured:
Lowering 1 (0:00):
1) Class 378 (London Overground) - 1:19
2N36 Richmond ➡ Stratford (London) | On-time

2) Class 378 (London Overground) - 1:49
2N88 Stratford (London) ➡ Richmond | On-time
-
Lowering 2 (2:27):
1) 378 206 (London Overground) - 3:38
2N37 Richmond ➡ Stratford (London) | On-time

2) 378 221 (London Overground) - 4:15
2N89 Stratford (London) ➡ Richmond | 2 minutes late
-
Lowering 3 (5:05):
1) Class 378 (London Overground) - 6:05
2N38 Richmond ➡ Stratford (London) | On-time

2) Class 378 (London Overground) - 6:40
2N90 Stratford (London) ➡ Richmond | 1 minute late

A trio of lowerings, each for a pair of bi-mode electric Class 378 'Capitalstar' trains in London Overground trim can be seen in this video filmed at this very busy level crossing next to Acton Central Station in Acton, London. At the adjacent station, a power changeover takes place from Direct Current 'Third Rail' to Alternating Current over-head line electrification, and this is timed to happen whilst the trains have stopped in the station. Third Rail electrification ends at Acton Central, as the line towards Acton Wells junction and onwards is only electrified by overheads, and likewise, the line towards South Acton onto Richmond is third-rail only.

This level crossing's alarms are sounding at a much better volume for the environment compared to that heard on my previous visits here (the last was nearly four years ago at the time of publishing), though they are still the same alarms. Also since then, three of the four barriers at this level crossing have been replaced by ones manufactured in 2022, though one barrier has evaded this renewal as of yet. The level crossing is controlled from nearby at Acton Wells Signal Box, and is monitored through CCTV, and there are four LED pedestrian lights provided here due to the high amount of footfall which quickly builds up during lowerings.

Twice in this video, the barriers seem to have been left lowered for a little longer than seems necessary at a glance, as the second and third lasted around seven whole minutes, with the route across the crossing given for trains still yet to depart Willesden Junction after the first trains had cleared! Most of the long waits (really quite long waits in between trains at times) have understandably been cut. Hope you enjoy!

Train details sourced from:
Real Time Trains: https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/sear...
Open Train Times: https://www.opentraintimes.com/maps
Traksy: https://traksy.uk/live

Filmed on: Panasonic HC-VX1 in 4K 25fps

Thanks for watching!