/NORTHERN RAILWAY

Pr. CEs Circular No. - 266

Sub : Provision of Road Sign Boards & Rumble strips/Speed Breakers at
approaches of unmanned and manned level crossings.
1.

For safety of road users and train operation, it is essential that at level crossings, suitable
safety measures such as road sign boards, speed breaker/rumble strips, etc are provided on
the approaches (of level crossings) to forewarn the road users. This needs to be done in
terms of instructions issued, in this regard, in various Acts, Codes, Manuals, etc. These are
The Motor vehicle Act-1988 (hereinafter called MV Act), Standards for Road-Rail Crossings,
IRC-39 (hereinafter called IRC-39), Code of Practice for Road Signs, IRC-67 (hereinafter called
IRC-67), Tentative guidelines on the Provision of Speed Breakers for Control of Vehicular
Speeds on Minor Roads, IRC-99, 1988 (hereinafter called IRC-99) and Indian Railways
Permanent Way Manual-2004 with various Advanced Correction Slips (hereinafter called
IRPWM). Relevant material/instructions from all these are collated and summarized in this
circular.

2.

Majority of these works are the responsibility of road authorities/state governments and
few are the responsibility of railways. Various road signs etc. to be provided for the benefit
of road users at all manned/unmanned level crossings as per various Acts, Codes, Manuals,
etc. are detailed here in under.

3.

At Unmanned/Unguarded Level Crossings

i) Relevant Annexures 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 & 9.
ii) Schematic Diagram for various provisions at unmanned/unguarded level crossing is given in
Annexure-9

Item

Type of
Board/
Structure
STOP Board

Relevant
Annexure

2.

3.

1.

Responsibility of
providing

Reference

Railway

Para - 916
(2) of
IRPWM

Rumble Strip
and requisite
Warning
Board

Road Authorities/
State Govt.

MV Act;
IRC-67;
IRC-39

Speed Breaker

Railway
(Only as interim
measure)

Para-918 &
Annexure9/6 of
IRPWM

CE_Circular_Level_Crossings_Ver-7.docx

Where to
be
provided
5m from
Centre of
nearest
track
As per MV
Act;
IRC-67;
IRC-39
20 m from
LC Gate
Post or
Railway
Boundary

Remarks

Hindi, English &

Regional
Language
Railway to pursue
with Road
Authorities/State
Govt. to provide
the same
Interim safety
measure only till
such time that
Rumble strips are
provided by Road

4.

Warning
Board for
Speed Breaker

Railway
(Only as interim
measure)

5.

Warning
Board

Railway
(Only as interim
measure)

6.

Warning
Board

Road Authorities/
State Govt.

C-35 of MV
Act and
Para-15.61 &
Fig. 15.70(b)
of IRC-67

7.

Warning
Board

Road Authorities/
State Govt.

C-34 of MV
Act and
Para- 15.61
& Fig. 15.70
(a) of IRC-67

4.

Para-918 &
Annexure9/7 of
IRPWM and
Para-15.40 +
Fig-15.49 of
IRC-67
-

whichever
is less.
50 m from
Speed
Breaker

100 m (60
m in hilly
terrain)
from Gate
Post

100m
(60 m in
hilly
terrain)
from Gate
Post
200m
from Gate
Post

Authorities /
State Govt.
Interim safety
measure only till
such time that
warning boards
are provided by
Road Authorities
/ State Govt.
Only as Interim
safety measure,
to be removed
when warning
boards are
provided by Road
Authorities /
State Govt. as per
Item - 6
Railway to pursue
with Road
Authorities/State
Govt. to provide
the same
Railway to pursue
with Road
Authorities/State
Govt. to provide
the same

At Manned/Guarded Level Crossing

i)

Relevant Annexures 2, 6, 7, 8 & 10.

ii)

Schematic Diagram for various provisions at manned/guarded level crossing is given in

Annexure-10

Item

Type of Board

Relevant Responsibility of
Annexure providing

1.

Rumble Strip
and requisite
Warning
Boards

Road Authorities/
State Govt.

MV Act;
IRC-67;
IRC-39

2.

Speed
Breaker

Railway
(Only as interim
measure)

Para-918 &
Annexure9/6 of
IRPWM

CE_Circular_Level_Crossings_Ver-7.docx

Reference

Where to
be
provided
As per MV
Act;
IRC-67;
IRC-39
20 m from
LC Gate
Post or
Railway
Boundary
whichever
is less.

Remarks

Railway to pursue
with Road
Authorities/State
Govt. to provide
the same
Interim safety
measure only till
such time that
Rumble strips are
provided by Road
Authorities /
State Govt.

3.

Warning
Board for
Speed
Breaker

Railway
(Only as interim
measure)

Para-918 &
Annexure9/7 of
IRPWM and
Para-15.40 +
Fig-15.49of
IRC-67

50 m from
Speed
Breaker

4.

Warning
Board

Railway
(Only as interim
measure)

100 m (60
m in hilly
terrain)
from Gate
Post

~
5.

Warning
Board

RoadAuthorities/
State Govt.

6.

Warning
Board

RoadAuthorities/
State Govt.

S.

C-37 of MV
Act and
Para- 15.62
& Fig.
15.71(b) of
IRC-67
C-36 of MV
Act and
Para-15.62
& Fig.
15.71(a) of
IRC-67

100m
(60 m in
hilly
terrain)
from Gate
Post
200m
from Gate
Post

- Interim safety
measure only till
such time that
warning boards
are provided by
RoadAuthorities
/ State Govt.
Only as Interim
safety measure,
to be removed
when warning
boards are
provided by Road
Authorities /
State Govt. as per
Item - 5
Railwayto pursue
with Road
Authorities/State
Govt. to provide
the same
Railwayto pursue
with Road
Authorities/State
Govt. to provide
the same

All the road sign boards should preferably be provided with luminous paint/reflective
or be retro-reflective

strips

boards. The colour scheme of these signs should be as specified in the

Annexures and the reverse side of all such sign plates shall be painted grey.
6.

Verification

of existence of rumble strips/speed

breakers and various road sign boards, as

detailed above, should be done in regular inspections. Drive should be launched to provide
those which are the responsibilities
7.

of railways as detailed above.

In view of safety of road users and train operation the matter should be pursued vigorously
with all the State Govt./Road Authorities
warning

to ensure that the compliment

of rumble strips,

sign boards as per guide lines given in The MV Act, IRC-39 and IRC-67 are

constructed/erected

by them. The matter

completed at all unmanned/unguarded

should be so pursued that these works are

& manned/guarded

level crossings and maintained

properly so that they do not lose their effectiveness over time.

~/Encl.:

Annexures 1 to 10

No. 219-W/24/0/Pt.IV/TP
Date: 10.06.2014

(Rakesh Goyal) /D
Chief Track Engineer,
Northern Railway.

ANNEXURE-1
STOP BOARD FOR ROAD USERS
AT UNMANNED LEVEL CROSSINGS
[REF: IRPWM PARA 916 (2)]

1(-11'----525 mm-----it%

RED BORDER
20mmTHICK
~-----H--REDSYMBOL
----H--WHITE

BACKGROUND

[ IN REGIONAL
LANGUAGE]

1.0

"-<.0

DANGER STOP
LOOK OUT FOR TRAINS
BEFORE CROSSING

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NOTE:i)
THESE BOARDS ARE TO BE PROVIDED ON ALL THE ROAD APPROACHES TO UNMANNED LEVEL
CROSSINGS AT 5 M FROM CENTRE LINE OF NEAREST TRACK.
ii)
THESE BOARDS ARE TO BE PROVIDED BY RAILWAYS.
iii) THE COLOUR SCHEME OF THESE SIGNS SHALL BE AS SPECIFIED THEREIN AND THE REVERSE SIDE
SHALL BE PAINTED GREY.
iv) THE POSTS OF ALL THESE SIGNS SHALL BE PAINTED IN 300 MM. WIDE BANDS, ALTERNATIVELY BLACK
AND WHITE AND THE LOWEST BAND NEXT TO THE GROUND SHALL BE BLACK.