Peak-hour chaos fears after near miss at dangerous Kuraby level crossing

A boom gate bingle at a notorious southside level crossing this week has prompted new calls for road upgrades before Cross River Rail opens.

A notorious southside level crossing is rising as one of the most dangerous in the state after a truck collided with the boom gates in peak-hour traffic on Wednesday.

The crossing, on Beenleigh Rd at Kuraby, has made Queensland Rail’s alert list after more than 110 collisions and near misses since 2011, with 16 boom gate hits in the past two years.

Although nobody was injured in this week’s early morning incident, it alarmed authorities who are planning to remove the crossing.

The Kuraby incident was the fourth boom gate strike across the network this year.

Plans are under way to remove crossings at Woodridge, Bethania, Holmview and Beenleigh.

It also slowed traffic through Kuraby and delayed trains on the Gold Coast and Beenleigh lines by up to 30 minutes.

Last year, Queensland Rail recorded 123 boom arm strikes across the entire network, up from 111 in 2020.

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More than 24 people have had close shaves and near misses at the Kuraby crossing over the past 10 years.

Another problem level crossings in the southeast at Newman Rd, Geebung, was removed in 2014 and replaced by an overpass after a person was struck and died in July 2011.

Funding has been allocated to the crossing at Kianawah Rd, Lindum, where a person died in February 2019 and the track claimed another life in February last year.

The level crossing at Lindum where two people have died since 2019 will be upgraded. PHOTO: GOOGLE

There have been multiple collisions at Barrack Rd, Cannon Hill and at Spanns Rd at Holmview, where a person was seriously injured in May 2016.

Transport advocate Rail Back on Track’s Robert Dow said an upgrade at the Kuraby crossing needed to be prioritised immediately.

However, it was left out of upgrading plans in 2021 with the state promising $241 million to improve level crossings at Coopers Plains, Lindum and Carseldine.

“The frequency of trains at the Kuraby crossing will increase when Cross River Rail opens in 2025 so this work needs to be done now,” Mr Dow said.

“When there are more trains going through the crossing at peak times, it is likely the boom gates will be closed for up to 45 minutes an hour in peak times and more drivers will get frustrated and make rash decisions or run red lights.

“Queensland has not removed any level crossings since 2015 while Victoria has removed 55.”

Robert Dow says the Kuraby level crossing needs to be upgraded immediately, before Cross River Rail.

Queensland Rail is investing $12 million to upgrade signalling technology at 27 level crossings across the West Moreton region.

Transport Minister Mark Bailey said local councils should contribute more to upgrading level crossings and bridges over rail lines on council-owned roads.

He told parliament Brisbane City Council had only put up 15 per cent of the required costs for the level crossing program, even though all were on Brisbane council’s local road network.

He said in the past, the council had paid for half of the upgrade works.

Queensland Rail has a $16 million program in place to upgrade level crossings across the state.

Queensland Rail’s Scott Riedel said the organisation was committed to level crossing safety through investment in education, engineering upgrades and working with the polic e.

“We also have crews and equipment – including spare boom arms – strategically located across our network to respond to any incidents as quickly as possible.”

It program of safety works includes signs, automatic warning devices, flashing lights, barriers and boom gates.

In 2020, Queensland Rail recovered more than $54,000 in level crossing repair costs through insurance claims.

The maximum penalty for damaging rail infrastructure is $11,028 and motorists can also be pursued for repair costs with fines of up to $1102 and four demerit points.

Along with level crossing collisions, more than 250 drivers have smashed into rail bridges across the network since mid-2018 resulting in more than 1000 service delays and the pursuit of $203,000 in repair costs.

Queensland Rail’s acting chief executive Kat Stapleton said bridge strikes were completely avoidable if motorists paid attention and heeded warnings.

“These incidents are not only extremely dangerous, but they can cause costly damage and frustrating delays for road and rail users,” Ms Stapleton said.

From July 1, 2018 to November 30, 2021, 253 bridge strikes were reported on the network, resulting in 1109 service delays in southeast Queensland.

Queensland Rail has also installed 43 bridge impact detection systems across the network, with sensors and CCTV cameras.