‘People who shouldn’t be ignored have been:’ Advocates slam safety summit and call for better train lighting

Families who have lost loved ones in level crossing accidents are pushing for train lighting to be on the agenda for a proposed level crossing safety summit, with the spokeswomen for the families saying safety improvements called for by coroners, numerous committees and transport safety investigators have been ignored by Australian rail industries for more than 20 years. Pacific National, one of Australia’s biggest rail operators, has called for a national safety summit following the deaths of two train drivers in a level crossing collision near the South Australia-New South Wales border. Pacific National CEO Paul Scurrah said more needed to be done to make communities and motorists aware of the dangers of level crossings. “We are calling on Federal and State Government to engage with industry on improved protections,” he said. “This isn’t about pointing the finger at drivers or pedestrians but working together to overcome complexities and simply do better.” Murchison pastoralist Lara Jensen questioned the effectiveness of another summit and said rail industries needed to take a proactive approach to level crossing safety that extended beyond community awareness and worked towards making trains as visible as possible for motorists. Ms Jensen is the spokeswoman for the Improve Train Lighting and Level Crossing Safety lobby group, set up by 12 families across Australia who have lost loved ones in what they say were preventable level crossing accidents. The lobby group has called for rail industries to update their standards to include changes such as mandatory flashing beacons on all locomotives and powered passenger cars, and side lights on all locomotives, powered passenger cars and railway wagons. Curtin University researcher Dr Brett Hughes said train lighting urgently needed to be improved but had been neglected for a long time. “Another summit will just delay actions that we already know work and should have been implemented years ago,” Dr Hughes said. “We need to do some things differently. Common sense, research, coroners, science and engineering have all pointed to improving train lighting for more than 20 years. But train operators have always resisted without explanation.” The Australasian Centre for Rail Innovation and Monash Institute of Railway Technology have published reports on level crossing safety within the past three years, both making recommendations to upgrade train lighting by making it brighter. Ms Jensen said stakeholders supporting the train lighting lobby group, from victims’ families to major trucking and transport associations, and peak farm lobby and community groups had had their concerns ignored by the rail industry over the years. “These are all people who should have been listened to, but they weren’t,” Ms Jensen said. “I think it’s fair to say the treatment (by the rail industry) hasn’t been good to our families, who are only trying to make things safer for everyone.” Ms Jensen said she did not condone people who broke road rules and flouted rail safety, but said putting the blame on motorists for all level crossing accidents would not help prevent further deaths. Ms Jensen began campaigning for better level crossing safety after her brother Christian was killed along with two friends in 2000. Mr Jensen, Jess Broad and Hilary Smith were at a passive level crossing near Jennacubbine when a freight train collided with their car. It was 35 minutes after sunset and, according to the coronial inquest, no one in the vehicle saw the oncoming train. The State Coroner recommended “immediate action” and for trains to be fitted with extra auxiliary lighting to prevent further accidents. However, more than 20 years later, no major changes have been made. Ms Jensen believes the upcoming summit would be an opportunity to address the need for better train lighting, “if rail operators were prepared to concede it was a contributing factor in multiple high profile crashes and were prepared to bolster existing inadequate train illumination standards.” “In a nutshell, there’s nothing in it for our families. We’ve already lost all that we’ve had,” she said. “We want the legacy of our lost family members because of these rail crashes to be permanent, lasting safety improvements that are going to save someone else and spare another family going through what we are.” When asked if the level crossing summit may include discussions on train lighting, Mr Scurrah did not confirm or deny it. “What’s clear is all parties are united in finding solutions that limit deaths and fatalities at level crossings and more broadly across the supply chain,” he said. “We’re working with government and industry to ensure the summit is convened this year, and the intention is to share learnings and discuss a wide range of initiatives.”