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- 20 June 2007
Level Crossings Safety
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Speakers - Draper Mr Peter
Business - Private Members Statements
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Page: 1416
Mr PETER DRAPER (Tamworth) [6.10 p.m.]: Tonight I express my concern that the proposed expansion of coalmining in the Gunnedah Basin will lead to more frequent and larger coal trains, leading to an increased risk of accidents at level crossings. The Baan Baa level crossing accident in May 2004 and its subsequent investigation and recommendations indicate that it takes a number of years to plan and install level crossings; this project is still to be completed.
The Australian level crossing assessment model is a process that evaluates and prioritises the safety risks of railway crossings. Under this model, crossings are assessed as to how well motorists can see trains, the existing protection at the crossing, the frequency of trains passing through the area, the number of tracks, the volume of road traffic over the crossing, the nearby road geometry and the potential for motorists to queue on the crossing. A priority list for upgrading crossings based on these criteria indicates that it could be decades before many rural crossings are improved.
Like accidents involving children at school zones, accidents involving vehicles and trains at railway crossings always generate maximum media attention and calls to fix the problem. Highlighting the problem is one thing, fixing it is another. Currently it costs somewhere between $350,000 and $800,000, depending on the circumstances, to install one level crossing. Although the Government has doubled investment in this infrastructure it will still take many years to make all level crossings across the State safe. There are more than 3,800 railway crossings in New South Wales, and about 1,500 of them are public rail-public road crossings. Many are already fitted with some form of warning device including lights, bells and half boom gates, but even at these locations accidents still occur, so further upgrading is required, and that adds to the cost burden. "Give way" or "stop" signs are the only protection at many crossings, particularly in rural areas.
Fatalities at railway level crossings are less than 1 per cent of the national road toll, but level crossing accidents are the largest single cause of fatalities for the rail industry. Figures for level crossing accidents involving vehicles indicate, strangely, that most fatalities occur in daylight hours, excluding dusk and dawn. One study indicated that approximately 70 per cent of vehicle-train collisions occur during daylight hours. Another study suggested that 85 per cent of accidents occurred in fine weather, 84 per cent on a dry road, 89 per cent on a straight road, and 77 per cent on a level stretch.
Reports show that most crashes occur where the driver had local understanding of the railway level crossing. Significantly, the national railway level crossing safety strategy reported that 32 per cent of crashes occurred at passive crossings, and 50 per cent at active controlled crossings. In 36 per cent of cases at passive level crossings the road vehicle hit the side of the train. These figures suggest that factors including visibility of the train as well as the characteristics of crossings need consideration. Obviously many factors must be taken into consideration when considering level crossing upgrades, but it is painfully obvious that current funding will always lag behind requirements.
I have drawn attention to the similarities of public concern in relation to school crossings and level crossings. Public pressure caused the Government to explore alternatives to expensive mains-powered warnings at school zones and I note that the flashing lights at Oxley Vale, Westdale and Moonbi school zones are utilising solar power. Savings with these installations have allowed more school zones to be fitted with warnings than would have been possible with previous technology. A team from Monash University has calculated that solar-powered level crossing warning systems could be installed for as little as $50,000, and they are just as reliable as mains-powered systems. This could lead to savings of hundreds of thousands of dollars per crossing and thus allow many more upgrades to take place with the same funding.
Level crossings were designed before the advent of high-speed trains and trucks. Vehicles travelling at 100 kilometres an hour or more have increased the threat of collision. The time available to warn road vehicle drivers gets shorter and shorter as speeds get faster and faster. We require a twenty-first century answer to nineteenth and twentieth century problems. I am aware of a solar-powered level crossing radio system called Solagard that can be used on single or double track lines. It provides audio and visual alarms at the crossing through a very high frequency link activated by an approaching train when it is between five and two kilometres from the crossing. Solagard is operated by its own power supply consisting of solar photovoltaic panels and batteries for both the remote equipment and the equipment at the crossing.
An electronic processor controls the system. The use of radio avoids the need for costly copper wires, which are often prone to theft, and solar power means the system does not rely on connection to electricity power lines, which adds to the expense, particularly in rural areas. Research in Australia and overseas indicates that solar-powered level crossings are safe and can save hundreds of thousands of dollars in installation costs. Let us not wait for another fatal accident to occur and more debate before we see increased action. The technology is already available to allow the Government to make an immediate difference.
Private members' statements noted.
[ Acting-Speaker (Mr Wayne Merton) left the chair at 6.15 p.m. The House resumed at 7.30 p.m. ]
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