The CPUC Rail Crossings Engineering Section maintains an inventory database of highway-rail crossings in California. There are just over 10,000 open crossings included in the state inventory as of July 2012.
A spreadsheet listing crossings in CPUC inventory database is provided below:
CPUC List of Rail Crossings
The spreadsheet includes the following information. See the 'Description' tab in the spreadsheet for further details.
- U.S. DOT / FRA Crossing Number
- CPUC Crossing Number
- Street Name
- Status
- Warning devices (gates, flashers, passive or none)
- City Name
- County Name
- Rail organization
- Rail line / branch name
- Descriptors (grade-separation, spur track, pedestrian, private)
- Geographic coordinates, with date of review and map link
CPUC Crossing Number
The CPUC crossing numbering system uses the following format:
The first set of 3 digits represents the rail agency designation.
Examples:
001 – Union Pacific Railroad Company (UPRR)
002 – BNSF Railway Company (BNSF)
101 – Southern California Regional Rail Authority (SCRRA)
The next set of up to 3 letters represents the branch/subdivision designation.
Examples:
002H – BNSF’s Harbor Branch
101OR – SCRRA’s Orange Subdivision
101OL – SCRRA’s Olive Subdivision
Followed by the milepost, which represents distance from a reference point (this can be the beginning of a line, a station, or another such location). The distance between two crossings can be determined by calculating the difference between their mileposts.
Example: 101OR-167.80 – Crossing is on SCRRA’s Orange Subdivision, at milepost 167.80.
Followed by optional suffix or combination of suffixes:
A – Grade separated, roadway Above tracks
B – Grade separated, roadway Below tracks
C – Spur
D – Pedestrian
T – Track over Track
X – Private
The absence of a suffix indicates an at-grade main or branch line vehicular public crossing.
Example: 101OR-167.80-AD - This is on SCRRA's Orange subdivision, at milepost 167.80, grade-separated (roadway Above tracks), mainline, pedestrian, public crossing.
U.S. DOT Numbering
The U.S. Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT), through its Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), uses a numbering system to identify all railroad crossings (and a few light rail crossings) throughout the United States. The U.S. DOT crossing number consists of 6 digits followed by a letter. Unlike the PUC crossing numbering system, the U.S. DOT system does not provide additional information about the nature of the crossing. On the PUC's list of crossings, "TBD" in the U.S. DOT crossing number field indicates "To Be Determined".
The U.S. DOT numbers can be queried by visiting FRA's crossing inventory website.