UK: Network Rail has secured funding to install U-Cross across the 96-mile Heart of Wales line, targeting safer rural level crossings and more precise real-time train location data.

A diesel train leaving a level crossing at Ffairfach on the Heart of Wales line.
A train clears the level crossing at Ffairfach on the Heart of Wales line; illustrative and not the U-Cross rollout. Photo: Flying Stag, CC BY-SA 2.0; center-cropped.

U-Cross rollout targets 126 rural crossings

The permanent scheme is planned between Swansea and Shrewsbury after an 11-mile trial completed in 2025. According to Network Rail’s announcement, infrastructure will be installed along the route and in the controlling signal box, with work expected to begin in December. An entry-into-service date has not yet been set.

Developed by Universal Signalling and tested with Network Rail and Transport for Wales, U-Cross combines beacons fixed to the track with equipment fitted to trains. The system sends safety-assured position data to signallers in real time and locates a train to within 20 metres.

This added precision is intended to help signallers manage 126 user-worked level crossings along the rural route. People using these crossings, including farmers and local residents, contact a signaller before crossing. On lines with sparse power supplies, traditional detection equipment such as track circuits and axle counters can be more complex and costly to install.

Network Rail says the modular system should reduce infrastructure complexity, installation costs and long-term maintenance requirements compared with those alternatives. Funding comes from its national Research and Development programme, although the amount approved for this deployment was not disclosed.

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U-Cross rollout follows an 11-mile trial

The earlier trial ran from 3 to 14 November 2025 between Llandeilo and Llandovery. Universal Signalling’s trial summary says the section included 20 user-worked crossings and generated more than 400,000 data points in shadow mode, meaning normal operating procedures remained in control while engineers evaluated the system.

Engineers fitted the 11-mile section during two and a half overnight line blocks, with no prior lineside design work required. In-service Transport for Wales trains carried the onboard readers and communications equipment, transmitting positions as they approached or cleared crossings.

The equipment subsequently operated through storms and significant flooding during 2025 and 2026, adding evidence of resilience before permanent deployment. The next phase still requires route infrastructure, signal-box human-factors assessments and fleet testing. Network Rail says an operational date will be confirmed later.

The programme is route-specific, but it is also being structured so assurance and testing can inform potential use elsewhere. For now, the approved change is limited to the Heart of Wales line and remains a planned installation rather than an operational system.

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