Core: Level crossing: markers, the Saint Andrew's cross, and the red flashing light

A level crossing (Book p.94) is an at-grade intersection between a road and a railway. Sign J10 (gate symbol) belongs to a crossing WITH barriers; sign J11 (locomotive symbol) to a crossing WITHOUT barriers, but with the same flashing lights and alarm bells. The stop moment is identical in both cases: as soon as the lights start flashing red and the bell rings, you stop — the barriers, if present, only lower a few seconds later. The three marker posts before the crossing give you an exact distance measurement, not a vague warning: three stripes at 240 metres, two stripes at 160 metres, one stripe at 80 metres (Book p.95). This lets you adjust your speed in good time, before you even see the red light. Right before the crossing itself, the Saint Andrew's cross tells you something different: not the distance, but the number of tracks. One cross means one track — look carefully once. Two crosses mean two or more tracks at that same crossing — a train on the far track can hide behind a train on the near track, so look again after passing the first rails. Overtaking just before or on a level crossing is not a legal prohibition like at a zebra crossing, but advice: you'd better not. Overtaking cyclists there is sometimes an exception, if there is enough room and visibility (Book p.96) — it is then better for traffic flow.