Lindum station rail crossing safety standards, report into student’s death says

A level crossing where a young woman was fatally struck when her car was hit by an oncoming train failed to meet Australian safety standards, a report has found.

A level crossing where a young woman was fatally struck when her car was hit by an oncoming train earlier this year failed to meet Australian safety standards, a report has found.

Preliminary findings, released in a report by the Australian Safety Transport Bureau (ATSB), found the boom gate at West Wynnum’s Lindum Station left a gap to the median strip of more than three metres and allowed room for the 32-year-old to drive her car onto the tracks.

The incident on February 26 of this year instantly claimed the life of the woman, who had been driving to a friend’s house nearby.

The woman’s death and any possible infrastructure failures have since become the subject of an investigation, of which the initial findings were on Thursday released by the ATSB.

Railway crossing of Lindum Road, North Road, Kianawah Road and Sibley Road next to Lindum Railway Station, Thursday, April 4, 2019 (AAP Image/Richard Walker)

According to the report, the Australian Standard for boom barrier design states that “boom barriers shall extend to the dividing line or centre of a roadway.”

However, in this instance, the gap between the edge of the median island and the tip of the boom barrier when lowered was 3.1 metres.

“The ATSB is continuing to examine the risk assessments conducted for this level crossing, and the processes used for those risk assessments,” said ATSB Acting Chief Commissioner Colin McNamara.

Following the woman’s death, Queensland Rail (QR) and the Brisbane City Council have formalised an agreement over the shared responsibility for safe railway operations at the crossing.

However, the report found this agreement had been underway since 2012, and was only finalised following the road tragedy.

“Further, QR has commenced engineering activities to source and trial usage of a longer boom barrier for the northern side of the Kianawah Road level crossing,” the ATSB report stated.

The last safety assessment of the boom gate had occurred in 2002, however as of a few weeks ago, the BCC commenced work on immediate upgrades to the level crossing intersection on Kianawah Road.

Mr McNamara said the ATSB’s preliminary report does not include any safety findings or analysis, which will be detailed in the investigation’s final report.

“The ATSB’s investigation will further assess the recorded data and sequence of events leading up to the collision, along with the level crossing’s design of the and its similarity to other crossings,” he stated.

“The investigation will also further examine maintenance activity associated with the level crossing and approach roads, the history of inspections by the rail and road managers, and the history of incidents and accidents at the level crossing and connecting intersections.”

A final report will be published at the conclusion of the investigation.