The ARA and TrackSAFE Chair Danny Broad, ARA CEO Caroline Wilkie and Executive Director of the TrackSAFE Foundation Heather Neil attended the level crossing safety roundtable held in Brisbane on Wednesday, 6 March.
The Roundtable was held in response to the tragic deaths of two Pacific National drivers, Kevin Baker and Mick Warren, on New Year’s Eve, to discuss any further action that could be taken by governments, regulators and industry.
The Roundtable also follows the release of the National Level Crossing Safety Strategy 2023–2032 last month.
The Strategy was developed by the National Level Crossing Safety Committee, of which ARA Chair Danny Broad is a member and comprises representatives from Federal, state and local governments, rail industry associations and regulators.
It provides a blueprint for national actions needed to improve safety at railway crossings.
The Strategy sets out actions for working towards zero harm on the level crossing network, including:
- Improving public education and enforcement
- Leveraging emerging technology and innovation
- Identifying early, low-cost and effective safety improvements
- Developing improved data and knowledge
- Increasing coordination and knowledge sharing by those responsible for safety.
The Strategy correctly highlights the importance of education and enforcement as the primary strategic focus area to reduce level crossing risk given driver behaviour is a factor in nearly all incidents at level crossings involving road vehicles, especially heavy vehicles.
Several other recommendations industry would like to see occur include:
- Regional highway patrol authorities to create a dedicated reporting mechanism for rail freight operators to report incidents and near misses for compliance action. This should be complemented by greater use of mobile technologies for enforcement, reducing the burden on police.
- That governments fund Rail Infrastructure Managers to invest in a proactive program to replace all signage at level crossings on closed rail lines with fit-for-purpose signage, and develop a streamlined process for the formal and public closure of crossings not in use.
- Harmonise permissions for RIMs to manage vegetation affecting nationally critical rail freight infrastructure and proactively manage visibility and sight lines for road users.
- Establish a national database for information related to technology trials and long-term deployments, efficacy study results, type-approvals, suppliers etc to ensure most effective use of available resources for safety measures.
- That participating jurisdiction RIMs and operators sign the Memorandum of Understanding in support of the National Type Approval Framework.
- To create a national regional level crossing safety priority list which is data-driven and ensures appropriate national distribution of focus and funding.
- Review local, state and national roads which can appropriately accommodate heavy vehicles of different types (based on weight and stopping speed primarily considering the number and type of level crossings to inform the NHVR PBS approvals and permits.
TrackSAFE’s next National Level Crossing Safety Forum will be held on Thursday 1 August 2024 in Melbourne. This year’s program is currently being finalised.