Debate over train lighting standards intensifies in WA Parliament amid safety concerns

WA Nationals MP Lachlan Hunter has lashed out at the WA Labor Government’s refusal to make train lighting standards mandatory, saying the issue has been “neglected” by successive governments on both sides. In a powerful address to WA Parliament on August 21, the Central Wheatbelt MLA described train visibility as a “consistently neglected” area of transport policy that has left regional Australians at unnecessary risk. “Our trains are not properly lit for modern roads, modern traffic,” Mr Hunter said. “And certainly not for the conditions faced by thousands of regional Australians who cross railway lines daily — often in darkness, low light, or with poor visibility.” Australia has more than 23,000 level crossings, but only 20 per cent are fitted with active safety features like lights or boom gates. The remainder rely solely on passive signage such as “Stop” or “Give Way” signs — leaving visibility as a crucial line of defence. Despite this, there is still no national requirement for trains to meet minimum lighting standards. Instead, rail operators are only encouraged to consider lighting improvements through a voluntary code of practice. Mr Hunter described this as a “disturbing truth,” saying Australia had “stronger laws for bicycle lighting”. “A passive crossing is only as safe as a road user’s ability to see the train. “When those trains are unlit, silent and hurtling through the night, the result is often catastrophic.” Between 2016 and 2024, 744 people were killed and 812 injured on or near Australia’s rail network — about 90 deaths per year. There were also more than 8,300 near-misses at railway crossings, with roughly half involving vehicles and half involving pedestrians. Mr Hunter’s calls came one week after National Rail Safety Week, when dozens of rail lighting advocates — including Liberal and National politicians — gathered at a level crossing in Perth. They called for the WA Government to make train lighting standards mandatory. Among them was Mt Magnet pastoralist Lara Jensen, whose brother Christian and two friends died in 2000 when a poorly-lit grain train struck their vehicle near Jennacubbine. She now leads a national campaign group, Improve Train Lighting and Level Crossing Safety, backed by 12 grieving families across Australia. Since 2000, eight Federal elections and six State elections have passed but mandatory lighting standards have not been legislated — despite three State coroners in WA, New South Wales and Victoria recommending improved standards. Responding in Parliament, Labor’s Jessica Stojkovski — Minister Assisting the Minister for Transport — said the WA Government took rail safety “extremely seriously,” but argued any change required a “nationally consistent approach.” She said any changes to the Rail Safety National Law needed to consider the science and information “considered by experts and to practical considerations”, before labelling train lighting important but “not a fail-safe solution”. “Approximately 70 per cent of railway level crossing collisions in Australia happen during the day, not at night,” she said, defending the current national framework. That same day, Mr Hunter asked WA Transport Minister Rita Saffioti directly whether she would push for mandatory lighting on trains, with Ms Saffioti saying no government had “done more or spent more” in relation to rail safety across the regions. She accused Mr Hunter of “politicising” the issue, saying the Opposition had been in government for eight-and-a-half years following the tragedy and “did nothing”.