RAILWAYS bosses have shared video footage of a near miss close to a Black Country station to try to warn people of the dangers of level crossings.

Footage released by Network Rail shows the moment a man climbs over closed level crossing barriers and casually walks across the tracks with just a few seconds to spare before a train passes through.

The near miss happened on Station Road in Langley Green where there has been a recent increase in the number of incidents of people choosing to misuse the busy level crossing, risking their lives.

Network Rail has released the video of the near miss on Station Road crossing, near Langley Green station, as a safety warning and is urging people to only ever cross when the barriers are up and the warning alarms aren’t sounding.

The incident, which took place on April 27, is one example of misuse captured at the crossing and others across the West Midlands.

Since January of this year, there have been 74 reported instances of level crossing misuse across the West Midlands region, with eight recorded at Langley Green.

Natalie Stretton, head of operational risk for Network Rail’s Central route, said: “This footage at Langley Green is extremely disappointing and concerning. Moments later and this could have led to tragedy, which doesn’t bear thinking about for the sake of a few minutes.

“Despite the clear and obvious dangers of not using level crossings correctly, and all the work we do to educate people about how to use them, it seems people still want to risk their lives. I can’t stress enough the importance of following the rules to help keep everyone safe.”

Network Rail will be delivering safety leaflets to residents around Langley Green as well as running awareness days across the region as part of an ongoing safety push regarding level crossings.