ScotWays was pleased to work with Network Rail and other partners in the National Access Forum (NAF) level crossings working group. Railway crossing points are often a vital part of local path networks, preventing railway lines from acting as walls dividing communities from spaces for outdoor recreation. Communication between the various stakeholders affected by railway operations was greatly enhanced as a result of the NAF working group, improving mutual understanding of each other’s respective positions. In essence, we all wish to see public access safely managed, whatever our differing views on its legal basis.
A key outcome of this partnership work with Network Rail is the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the use of private level crossings (PLCs) for non-motorised public access in Scotland – approved at February 2026’s NAF meeting, it has been published on the Scottish Outdoor Access Code website and is promoted by Network Rail.
ScotWays hopes and expects that the protocols and best practice contained in the MoU will confirm this new era of positive communication in relation to safely managing public access across railways, whether well-used routes of long-standing are recognised as rights of way or not. This is all of course as yet untested, so the MoU will first need to be seen to work in practice, but ScotWays is also doing what it can to ensure this positive work comes to full fruition by helping to promote the MoU as a reasonable way forward to safely manage and safeguard public access.
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Header image: Dalnaspidal level crossing © Neil Birch