Qld Rail had one worker to check 1138 level crossings. Then someone died

Queensland Rail’s failure to conduct safety inspections on level crossings “very likely” contributed to the death of a woman whose car was hit by a train in 2021, an investigation has found.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau’s report into the fatality at the Wynnum West crossing – two years after a pedestrian died when hit by a train at the same site – found the infrastructure did not meet Queensland Rail’s own safety standards.

Aerial shot of the aftermath of a collision between a train and a car at Wynnum West in 2021.Credit: Nine News

But at the time, Queensland Rail only employed one specially trained worker to conduct checks at 1138 level crossings.

The crossing at Kianawah Road, near Lindum Station, had not been inspected for 19 years, despite having “more near misses and boom-gate strikes than the average level crossing, likely indicating a heightened safety risk”.

The report found a 32-year-old Sunshine Coast woman most likely followed the road markings on a corner, driving her Hyundai i30 past a lowered boom gate and into the path of a passenger train travelling at 82km/h.

“Had QR reassessed the Kianawah Road level crossing in accordance with their level-crossing safety standard, it was very likely that the 3.1m gap between the tip of the boom barrier [in its lowered state] and the median island, and the irregularity of the turn line markings on the road pavement guiding road users through that gap, would have been detected and rectified,” the report concluded.

The Kianawah Road level crossing at Wynnum West in February 2021, where a woman died after her sedan was struck by a train.

While teams were tasked with managing safety, the sole worker with special training had been able to complete only 52 inspections across 1138 crossings in the five years before the accident.

ATSB Chief Commissioner Angus Mitchell on Wednesday said organisations like Queensland Rail had a responsibility to set safety standards and adhere to them.

“The standard stated public and pedestrian level crossings should be assessed at least once every five years,” he said.

The ATSB report also condemned the lack of risk-management agreements at the time between Brisbane City Council and Queensland Rail for level crossings in the metropolitan area.

The Kianawah Road level crossing at Wynnum West in February 2021, where the boom gate was 3.1 metres too short.Credit: Queensland Police

In a statement, Queensland Rail extended its sympathies to the family of the Sunshine Coast woman.

“Queensland Rail’s primary responsibility is to operate a safe railway,” it said.

“Since the incident, we have worked closely with the Brisbane City Council and Transport and Main Roads [department] to improve safety at the Kianawah Road level crossing.”

Initial changes to the crossing, including a 12-metre boom gate and better line markings, were made in the months after the accident, when Queensland Rail and the council also signed a risk-management agreement.

The council’s civic cabinet chair for infrastructure, Andrew Wines, said the measures showed it “acted quickly to address safety concerns” after the accident.

The Queensland government, which has ultimate responsibility for rail infrastructure, has not removed one open level crossing in south-east Queensland since 2014. It identified the Wynnum West crossing as a problem in 2019.

While the state has sought and been promised federal funding for such works – including $75 million for Wynnum West – an ongoing infrastructure audit has left the projects under a cloud.

There are now four specially trained level-crossing safety officers at Queensland Rail.

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