Latest news with #levelcrossings
ABC News
a day ago
- ABC News
Close call videos at Tasmanian rail crossings released in TasRail plea for safety
Near misses. Close calls. Narrow escapes. None of these phrases quite captures the recklessness of driving in front of a train. As TasRail boss Steven Dietrich said, "Locomotives do not apologise". This week is Rail Safety Week, an annual campaign to raise awareness about the dangers of trains and railway crossings. To mark the occasion, TasRail has shared several videos of cars — and one pedestrian — crossing tracks, despite a train bearing down on them. TasRail is urging drivers to be safer and more sensible around level crossings, but reported a "significant increase" in safety incidents in the past year. It says the number of documented incidents of people failing to give way to trains at level crossings has doubled to 137 in 2024-25. More than 80 of those were in the state's northwest. There were also two collisions between trains and other vehicles in the past year. Mr Deitrich said a tractor failed to give way to a train at Spreyton, and in another incident at Western Junction, a car collided with the side of a train. Train driver Jarrod Cook said his train collided with a truck at a level crossing 18 months ago, causing a derailment. "That's not something that I want to ever experience again," he said. "If I had one message for the public, that would be change your behaviour around level crossings. "Stop, take a few extra seconds. Look left, look right twice, and then proceed. Mr Dietrich said the story highlighted how driver behaviour can traumatise TasRail staff. "We all come to work expecting to be safe in our work environments," he said. "It's not different for a train driver or an infrastructure worker working on the rail network. He said that although this week is Rail Safety Week, rail safety should be practised "every minute, every second of the day". As well as the call for safer driving at level crossings, Mr Dietrich said TasRail had been granted $4 million from the federal government and $1 million from the state to improve safety at several level crossings. Most of the upgrades will occur at Ulverstone in the state's northwest, where five crossings will be improved. Three crossings will also have flashing stop signs installed, and road markings will be improved at some crossings to improve safety. He said boom gates at some level crossings may be considered in the future, but noted that they came with other risks. "Improving the technology that we've got available at the moment will go a long way to improving safety right through Ulverstone and Devonport," he said. Despite the upgrades, however, Mr Dietrich said it was incumbent on drivers to ensure they were abiding by road rules. "When you see the bells and whistles, please stop," he said. "There's only one party that has a choice, one user at that level crossing has a choice to make the right decision. Tasmania Police Acting Inspector Martin Parker reinforced Mr Dietrich's comments. "Inattention is one of the biggest factors in serious and fatal road incidents this year," he said. "The consequences can be very serious. Trains can't stop on a dime."
RNZ News
05-06-2025
- Automotive
- RNZ News
New KiwiRail survey shows nearly half fail to stop or prepare to stop at rail crossings
The report says a simple 'Look for Trains' sign had significantly higher success getting drivers to stop and look. Photo: RNZ / Nathan Mckinnon Nearly half of motor vehicles fail to stop, or prepare to stop when approaching level crossings in research commissioned by KiwiRail. They were least likely to do so where there was just Give Way signs in place. The engineering and professional services consulting firm WSP observed more than 3600 drivers - 47 percent failed to stop at crossings with Stop signs, or were ready to stop at Give Way signs. Earlier research had found more than half of the deaths in serious level crossing collisions over a ten-year period occurred at crossings with Stop or Give Way signs. There have been 25 collisions at crossings in the last two years. The report said 'Look for Trains' signs had significantly higher success getting drivers to stop and look - and a major recommendation of the review was to remove all Give Way signs for Stop signs. Chief operations officer at KiwiRail Paul Ashton told Nine to Noon the report helped them to further understand the challenges around passive crossings. A passive rail crossing is where there is a stop sign, give way sign or look for train sign. Crossings with barrier arms, bells and flashing lights are known as active protection crossings. "This research focused on the stop and give-way signs because there is evidence showing that compliance to the stop and give-way have been very very low, and the results of the survey re-enforce that we are just on 50 percent of people are failing to to that. "From a KiwiRail perspective this is both disappointing and very disturbing, disturbing on a number of fronts." Ashton said it was mostly in the rural areas where the passive signs were in place. He said in these places people were "sailing through" the crossings, often not slowing down or checking before crossings the tracks. The compliance crossing active crossings is much higher, Ashton said. "It is much higher because you have physical obstacles like barriers arms coming down to stop the traffic moving, but unfortunately we have had situations where people have driven around the barriers and we've had some very tragic incidents in the last 12 months as a result of that." To improve compliance, he said, they would be looking to add 'Look for Trains' signs at more crossings. "But it is still reliant on the responsibility of every vehicle driver to follow the rules, which is no different to us in our cars everyday at stop signs or give-way signs on the public roads." He said collisions and near misses also took a serious toll on KiwRail staff. There are 550 passive rail crossings and 750 active protective crossings around the country. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
05-06-2025
- Automotive
- RNZ News
Why drivers don't stop at train crossings
Nearly half of motor vehicles fail to stop, or prepare to stop when approaching level crossings in research commissioned by Kiwirail. They were least likely to do so where there were just Give Way signs in place. The engineering and professional services consulting firm WSP observed more than 3600 drivers - 47 per cent failed to stop at crossings with Stop signs, or were ready to stop at Give Way signs. Earlier research had found more than half of the deaths in serious level crossing collisions over a ten-year period occurred at crossings with Stop or Give Way signs. There have been 25 collisions at crossings in the last two years. The report says 'Look for Trains' signs had significantly higher success getting drivers to stop and look - and a major recommendation of the review was to remove all Give Way signs for Stop signs. Paul Ashton is chief operations officer at Kiwirail. Photo: Supplied by Kiwirail
BBC News
04-06-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Network Rail objects to direct London trains from Wrexham
Concerns have been raised about plans for a direct rail service between Wrexham and London, including fears over safety at level Rail warned the line was already congested and there was not enough timetable capacity for extra a report, it said increased use would raise the risk of a collision at crossings along the route and that it could not support the application, put forward by a new open-access rail operator called the Wrexham, Shropshire and Midlands Railway (WSMR). The new service would link Wrexham, Gobowen, Shrewsbury, Walsall and Coleshill up with the capital. Network Rail's report, which has been sent to the Office of Rail and Road, highlighted a number of crossings where it believed there would be an increased include the Viaduct level crossing in Shropshire, which it said was "used by large groups and is also a hot spot for trespassing and fatalities".The operator said work would need to be carried out to make it Shropshire MP Helen Morgan has previously spoken out on the safety of the crossing, which is close to the Chirk has written to Network Rail to request additional safety measures be put in Rail said it had reviewed the safety of the crossing and brought forward plans to install crossing lights, which should be in place in December this year. Follow BBC Shropshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
News.com.au
12-05-2025
- Politics
- News.com.au
Victoria faces $5.4bn choice between level crossing removals and almost 20,000 social housing builds
The Allan government is facing a $5.4bn choice between 25 level crossing removals and an almost 20,000 home building surge to help tackle the state's affordable housing crisis. It comes as the Victorian Housing Peaks Alliance has warned Victoria is 80,000 social homes short of what is needed for the next decade, and the state has the lowest proportion of social housing in Australia. As treasury prepares the state's 2025-2026 budget for next week, the Community Housing Industry Association as well as the powerful Property Council of Australia, are calling for level crossing removal funds to be repurposed to build social housing. CHIA has calculated redeploying the funds would allow for the creation of 17,823 additional social homes over the next decade, while putting $6bn into the state's Social Housing Growth Fund would boost that number to almost 20,000. CHIA chief executive Sarah Toohey said it was time for the Allan government to prioritise the state's 'very pressing and urgent housing crisis'. 'The level crossing removals have done amazing things where they have been through, and there's more public realm around the stations, but after 85 of them it's diminishing returns,' Ms Toohey said. 'We have 55,000 households waiting for social housing right now, they are in a range of circumstances — and some are sleeping on couches and in cars and sleeping rough because they can't get a social housing space.' While early changes to the level crossing program had undoubtedly saved lives, Ms Toohey said it was known that homelessness caused early death and that there were families enduring domestic violence because they had nowhere else to go to. Ms Toohey said after years of asking the government for more social housing funding, the response had always been 'how do we pay for it'. 'So we have done the hard work of looking through the budget and finding what we can reprioritise,' she said. The Victorian Housing Peaks Alliance data shows just 3.1 per cent of the state's housing supply is social housing, compared to a 4.5 per cent national average. Victorian Council of Social Services chief executive Juanita Pope said social housing was foundational for people being able to live a good life. 'Strong, sustained investment in growing public housing and community housing should be the number one infrastructure priority for this state,' Ms Pope said. 'It's the key to solving our housing crisis and other big societal challenges.' Property Council of Australia Victorian executive director Cath Evans backed the proposal, describing the state's housing crisis as in need of urgent action. 'A redirection of funds that would kickstart the rollout of 20,000 new social housing homes would offer a much-needed boost to Victoria's supply and ensure more vulnerable members of our community have a place to call home,' Ms Evans said. 'While infrastructure projects are essential to the fabric of a growing city, the government must prioritise housing if we are to continue to grow as Australia's soon-to-be largest and most prosperous state.' She added that reductions to taxes on foreign investment and more financial support for first-home buyers could also assist with establishing more housing availability for tenants and to help keep property prices from escalating and pushing more people into needing social or community housing spaces. Common Equity Housing Limited chief executive Liz Thomas said the federal election result had been a 'clear signal people want housing to be a priority', and warned that waiting lists would continue to grow if social housing wasn't made a priority. A driving force behind co-operative housing formats, where struggling families and individuals are given a say in how their complex is managed, as well as secure, long-term residency, Ms Thomas said they could be virtually self funding once established. Ms Thomas said most of the households moving into her co-op residences were couples or single parents with two kids — and not just people on government payments. 'They are hospitality workers, retail workers, independent retirees who don't qualify for public housing,' she said. Co-op resident and single mum Lucy Bowen is studying to become a speech pathologist to better provide for her young family. But with her only alternative to community housing being living with her mother and brother in a three-bedroom home, said it was time to prioritise housing. 'I feel so secure and know that my children are living in a place that is safe, and that takes the stress off,' Ms Bowen said. 'And it's housing that's most important. Everyone needs safe and secure housing, especially children.' Additional CHIA budget asks, which could all be made revenue neutral, include transferring general lease stock to the community housing sector, improving lending requirements for community housing organisations and trialling a Community Housing Sector Innovation Fund to support entrepreneurs seeking to increase social housing supply.
