Drunks and motorists the biggest dangers in light rail testing phase

Drunk people stumbling out of pubs and motorists running red lights have emerged as the greatest safety hazards to Sydney’s light rail as the testing phase begins in George St. Find out the worst accidents ever happened. VIDEO: RIDE IN THE NEW TRAMS.

• Light rail opening to be fast-tracked
• Light rail the country’s most costly project at $3b

EXCLUSIVE: Drunks stumbling out of pubs and impatient motorists running red lights or attempting to overtake trams have emerged as the greatest safety threats to Sydney’s light rail.

The hazards have been identified during the testing phase of the trams which are set to trundle down George St for the first time within the next two weeks.

As a result, trainee drivers are learning the locations of the city’s ­watering holes to avoid an unfortunate encounter with a trolleyed pedestrian while also knowing the timing of major events.

Drunk people and motorists have been identified as the biggest hazards during the testing phase of the light rail. Picture: James Gourley

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The state government is also rolling out a pedestrian and motorists safety campaign to raise awareness of the existence of the trams, which will travel at up to 40km/h in “high pedestrian areas” and are set to become operational by the end of the year.

More than 1000 people have applied to state government contractor Transdev for one of around 80 positions as a light rail tram driver.

Only applicants who demonstrate superior reaction times and “situational awareness” are being short-­listed for the job, with the selection process described by Transdev as “rigorous”.

Short-listed candidates will be put through a two-hour virtual experience using computers, joysticks and pedals to measure situational awareness, reaction time and resilience ­before undergoing a face-to-face ­interview. Successful applicants will attend a dedicated tram driving school at Randwick for up to five weeks with the first class to begin next month.

Light rail driver team leader Sarah Kelly and fellow leader Leisa Brown understand the dangers for pedestrians and themselves when they track officially opens. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

The tram yard in Randwick. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

Light (rail) driver team leader Sarah Kelly, 31, said knowing the ­location of pedestrian and traffic “hot spots” was critical given the inter­action of the trams with people and vehicles.

The former retail worker who transferred over to the light rail after driving trams on the inner-west line for three years said drivers would also be trained to be aware of the ­timing of major events at Royal Randwick and Moore Park.

“You definitely have to have situational awareness because we are going to be in a pedestrian zone and in shared zones so we definitely have to have people who are aware of their surroundings,” Ms Kelly said.

“You know where you are, you know the racecourse is just around the corner.

“When you talk weekends, 48 weekends out of 52 there is an event in either Moore Park or Randwick.”

There are warning signs littered around the track to warn drivers and pedestrians. Picture: James Gourley

Trams will begin night-testing in the next two weeks. Picture: Christian Gilles

Fellow team leader Leisa Brown had never set foot in the cabin before applying for a job on the light rail.

The Homebush resident, who has worked in the transport industry for two decades, said it was a strange ­experience driving a tram down a street where only cars had previously gone.

“It is scary,” she said.

“You’re in quite a large machine and you have be very aware of what is going on around you.”

Transdev will begin night-testing trams on the southern end of George St in the next two weeks — at “very low speeds” according to Transport NSW — before they are rolled out to the final leg to Circular Quay.

HORRIBLE HISTORY OF TRAMS AND ACCIDENTS

Sydney’s history shows that trams and pedestrians can be a fatal mix.

The city’s first tram system, hauled by horses, started operation in December 1861, and the first death occurred less than two years later, according to the City of Sydney’s Dictionary Of Sydney.

The Dictionary says a newspaper reported in May 1863: “A frightful accident occurred on the tramway, in Pitt-street, on Sunday evening last.

A little child, named Thomas Gowan, aged four years, either fell or was knocked down on the tram, when one of the cars passed over its right leg, completely severing it between the foot and the ankle.”

Tram crossing at the corner of George Street and Wynyard Street in 1938. Picture: City of Sydney Archives

The boy died a few days later and at the inquest he was identified as Thomas McGowan, aged six.

Electric trams began operating in Sydney in 1898 and even the famous have fallen victim.

Benjamin O’Reilly, who performed as Lea Sonia, “the celebrated burlesque female impersonator” as the Sydney Truth described him, was the headline star at Sydney’s Tivoli Theatre one night in 1942.

He had been performing his humorous monologue The Eleven Sixty-Nine Express at the Maxine Night Club in Oxford St, Woollahra, in early 1942 and as an encore had sung Please Don’t Talk About Me When I’m Gone.

But coming out of the nightclub, he ran across Oxford St — dark because of the wartime “brownout” — to intercept a taxi and ran directly in front of a tram. He died instantly.