In accordance with Rail Industry Safety and Standards Board’s (RISSB) governance arrangements, stakeholders are invited to provide suggestions on new standards, codes, rules and guidelines that they would like to see developed by the RISSB commencing on July 1st, 2012.

All suggestions are to be sent to Kevin Taylor, RISSB’s General Manager at ktaylor@rissb.com.au by March 1st, 2012.  These suggestions will be considered by the appropriate RISSB Standing Committee’s in April 2012 when they develop new project proposals for Board Approval in mid-May 2012.

The committee proposals will be shared with Stakeholders in mid-April 2012. The purpose of this exercise is to provide stakeholders with the opportunity of refining priorities.

(January 18th, 2012)

 

KiwiRail has announced that collisions between trains and road vehicles at public level crossings in New Zealand are at their lowest level since 1997. With a week to go, 2011 has seen 14 collisions, which is eight fewer than occurred in 2010 and 22 lower than the 36 collisions recorded as recently as 2005. The 14 collisions so far in 2011 have resulted in two motorists losing their lives.

KiwiRail also announced that it has completed upgrades at three level crossings this year.

(December 28th, 2011)

Tram drivers in Adelaide have said that they become desensitised to the risks associated with misuse of level crossings by both motorists and pedestrians. Incidents where they do not apply the emergency brake are not reported in many cases as the misuse of level crossings is accepted by some drivers as the norm about which little can be done. Between January 1st and December 5th, 2011 tram drivers reported 138 near misses.

Some, particularly novice, tram drivers say that they have been traumatised by near-miss incidents. However, drivers say that when they have been driving trams for an extended period of time that this is rarely the case as they have become inured to the frequent near miss incidents occurring in the path of their tram.

(December 27th, 2011)

Three people were taken to hospital after the car in which they were travelling was hit by a train on a level crossing near Gulgong. The collision which led to the car being pushed along the railway for about 150 metres occurred shortly before 11.00 on December 20th, 2011. Two of those injured, including a six-year-old child were airlifted to hospital.

(December 20th, 2011)

Near Misses at Level Crossing - Queensland Rail Network
Train to Motor Vehicle, Bicycle and or Person
	2009	2010	2011
			to 30th Nov
BICYCLIST	22	23	14
MOTOR VEHICLE/MOTORCYCLIST	301	234	199
PERSON*	232	214	225
PLANT	1		1
	556	471	439
*Note, the "PERSON" figure for 2009 encompasses a number of cyclist near misses as well due to a different reporting method used at this time, where by these were recorded together.

Locations recording the highest number of near misses for pedestrians and cyclists:
2009	No.	Location
Florence Street (Ronald Street)	16	Wynnum Central
Newman Road	18	Geebung
Queensport Road	25	Murarrie
2010	No.	Location
Florence Street (Ronald Street)	12	Wynnum Central
Mitchelton Station Pedestrian Access	12	Mitchelton
Cavendish Road	18	Coorparoo
Queensport Road	19	Murarrie
2011	No.	Location
Wynnum North Road	16	Wynnum North
Queensport Road	18	Murarrie
Florence Street (Ronald Street)	38	Wynnum Central

A 69-year-old woman was killed when the car she was driving was struck by a freight train on a passive level crossing near Levin. The collision which occurred at approximately 19.05 on December 11th, 2011 resulted in the wrecked car being pushed by the train some 600 metres.

The accident was on the Jacksons Road level crossing, located near the home of the victim. Some users of the level crossing suggest that the ability to easily sight approaching trains is compromised by vegetation and the difference in elevation of the railway track relative to that of Jacksons Road.

(December 12th, 2011)

Fifty five years ago, the talk on the street was that the State Government was intending to replace the level crossing on Clayton Road in Monash with a grade-separated road-rail intersection. Lowering the railway and moving the Clayton railway station to the west of Clayton Road has been the preferred solution for some while and was indeed an election issue in 2010.

The congestion has steadily worsened as Monash has developed and both Clayton Road and the railway busier too. Now, closure of the crossing to road traffic for as many as fifteen minutes is not unknown with consequent traffic back-ups that take an age to clear and hamper movement within the community.

The Clayton Road level crossing is used by in the region of 25,000 road vehicles each day with a large majority of the traffic flowing, or rather crawling, over a 12-hour period from 07.00.

Despite being raised as an election issue, the new administration has not made any move to eliminate the Clayton Road level crossing. However, this position is seen as untenable as of the six locations where grade –separation is to be progressed, four of them are risk-ranked lower than Clayton Road by the Australian Level Crossing Assessment Model (ALCAM).

The end result, political expediency trumps risk reduction.

(December 8th, 2011)

Concerns are being raised that the road traffic delays already experienced at the Adamstown Road level crossing in Newcastle (LXinfo May 2009) are to be exacerbated by an increase in freight trains on the Sydney to Newcastle rail corridor.

With funding of AUD 1.0 billion committed to the corridor upgrade, the increase from 29 to 44 freight trains a day moves a whole lot closer as does an estimated two-hour increase in the time that the Adamstown Road level crossing is closed to road traffic each day.

The projected impact of the increase in rail traffic of Newcastle from Fassifern to Hexham is the preferred solution of local government in Newcastle as it will facilitate the regeneration of the urban heart of the city.

(December 8th, 2011)

The Rail Industry Safety and Standards Board (RISSB) has announced that its Board agreed on November 23rd, 2011, that the Railway Level Crossings standard (AS7658) is ready for publication and use.

This standard specifies level crossing safety requirements for any member or participant of the Australian rail industry that is involved in any phase of the life cycle of a level crossing. It complements AS 1742.

(December 6th, 2011)