Footage taken at Manchester Airport shows passengers waiting for the return leg of the flight becoming increasingly frustrated with staff after the events in Birmingham resulted in a knock-on delay to the aircraft's return to Qatari capital Doha.
It is found that when the scheduled buffer time between train paths at the level crossing decreases, the mean knock-on delay of all passing trains increases exponentially.
The model can determine the maximal frequency of trains passing the critical level crossing with a given maximum knock-on delay at a certain confidence level.
Knock-on delay, which is the key factor in punctuality of railway service, is mainly related to two factors including the quality of timetable in the planning phase and disturbances which may result in unscheduled trains' waiting or meeting in operation phase.
One train operator queried whether further franchises, including most significantly the East Coast main line, would face knock-on delays.
Extra footfall transferring to trains, buses and the bike rental scheme will mean knock-on delays for those services too.
However, as a large proportion of UK flights cross French airspace, airlines believe that there is a strong chance of knock-on delays.
A spokesman for Heathrow said some early-morning flights had been been pushed back and knock-on delays could occur throughout the day.
