Calls for WA Government to match $180 million Federal spend on deadly Wheatbelt rail crossings

Pressure is mounting on the WA Government to upgrade hundreds of potentially deadly passive rail level crossings in the Wheatbelt, with rail safety campaigners calling on the State to match a $180 million package included in the Federal Budget. The long-awaited plan to make some of regional Australia’s most dangerous level crossings safer was initially promised by the former Liberal-National Coalition Government in its March budget. The scheme — dubbed the Regional Australia Level Crossing Safety Program — was retained in the Albanese Labor Government’s first Budget handed down last week. Rail safety advocate and Murchison pastoralist Lara Jensen said she was relieved the potentially lifesaving program was not scrapped but called on the State Government to do more. “The State has a $6 billion surplus, so I’m calling on (WA Transport Minister) Rita Saffioti to do her job and stop neglecting lifesaving infrastructure at passive level crossings in the Wheatbelt,” Ms Jensen said. “All the recent expenditure by the State Labor Government has been for improvements on the Perth-Bunbury line, but there are still 509 unlit passive level crossings on operational lines in WA. “Most of these are in the Wheatbelt, are lightly controlled with signage, and have been neglected for decades.” Ms Jensen lost her brother Christian and his two friends, Jess Broad and Hilary Smith, when their car was hit by a train at the Yarramony passive level crossing near the Wheatbelt town of Jennacubbine in July 2000. The crossing had claimed the life of another young man in 1997 and had neither boom gates nor flashing lights at either time. In October 2001, State Coroner Alastair Hope concluded inadequate train lighting was a factor in the triple fatality and recommended immediate action be taken to identify how lighting could be fitted to locomotives to provide “effective warning to motor vehicle drivers”. Flashing lights were installed at Yarramony crossing 17 years after the 1997 fatality, while legislation has still not been introduced to improve auxiliary lighting on trains or make flashing lights on locomotives mandatory in line with coronial recommendations. Ms Jensen, who has campaigned for safer railway crossings for the past two decades, said nothing had changed in 22 years and accused Ms Saffioti of “continuously avoiding the issue”. “We’re looking at the exact same risk matrix that my brother faced when him and his friends were killed,” Ms Jensen said. “The risk matrix — signage, poor train lighting and livery (colour), and limited warnings on approach to passive level crossings — have not altered whatsoever since we lost our three family members.” The Opposition is also pressuring the State Government, with WA Nationals Leader Mia Davies using question time in Parliament last week to ask Ms Saffioti if she would match Federal spending in WA. “The minister refused to commit to additional funding, avoiding the question,” Ms Davies said. “We will continue advocating for impacted regional communities, pushing all levels of Government to take the calls of families impacted by level crossing trauma seriously.” A typo in last week’s Federal Budget incorrectly suggested the $180m to improve safety at passive rail crossings nationwide would not be available until 2025-26. However, a Government spokesman has since confirmed the funding will be available immediately until 2025-26. The package included $160m for upgrades to level crossings, including adding boom gates, flashing lights, improved signage and road rumble strips. There was also $6.5m for a national level crossing safety education and awareness campaign, $5m for research into and trials of new level crossing technologies and safety measures, and $2m for improved data collection and risk assessment. Shadow transport minister Shane Love said passive level crossings across regional WA were in a “perilous state” and called on the State Government to stump up for “long overdue” safety upgrades. With another potentially record-breaking harvest expected for WA, he said the risk to motorists was further heightened. “The State Government has a responsibility to keep motorists and train drivers across WA safe, and it is about time the minister took this responsibility seriously by upgrading the passive crossings we already know are a problem,” Mr Love said. “Unfortunately, while billions are poured into shiny, new, state-of-the-art rail systems in Perth, limited funding has been delivered to make a difference on and around risky regional train lines.” Of the $180m of Federal funding, it remains unclear how much will be spend in WA. In a statement, Ms Saffioti told Countryman the State Government would work with the Federal Government to secure WA’s allocation and “investigate what additional projects can be delivered”. “I am very happy to see the $180m investment towards safety at rail crossings in the Federal Budget and will be engaging with the Federal minister to better understand how that funding will be carved up between States,” she said. “We have recently doubled our own annual investment on rail crossing safety, with a total of $34m being allocated between 2019 and 2024. “Our investment is improving rail safety in a number of regional areas, including safety upgrades to 11 level crossings in the Peel and South West region.”