Transport investigators find worker error disabled lights, boom gates before level crossing close call
Workers mistakenly switched off flashing lights and boom gates on a railway track in North Geelong, leading to a near miss between a passing car and a passenger train speeding through the level crossing.
Victoria
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Construction crews mistakenly switched off flashing lights and boom gates while working on a railway track in North Geelong, leading to a passenger train speeding through a level crossing and missing a passing car.
A new report by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau into the near miss in January 2019 has found worker error was behind the Overland train passing through the crossing with no warning or protections from drivers.
Investigators found crews working at North Geelong had shut off level crossing protections at Thompson Rd while preparing for signalling upgrades on a railway line that had been shut down.
But they also turned off the flashing lights and boom gates for a neighbouring section of track on which trains were still running.
The driver of the Adelaide-bound Overland service spotted the problem as he approached and immediately braked and sounded his horn to warn motorists as he passed through the crossing.
No one was hurt during the close call, with one driver travelling along the road at the time claiming they had been seconds away from colliding with the train.
The ATSB’s acting director of transport safety, Kerri Hughes, said the signalling tester working on the project had mistakenly altered the wrong controls.
“The train passed through the crossing at a reported speed of about 50 km/h, with the level crossing protections inactive,” she said.
“Although there was road traffic in the vicinity, no vehicles were on the crossing at the time the train passed through.”
Ms Hughes said the contractor working on the upgrade did not provide the workers with specific and detailed instructions on what to shut down for each stage of the project and this had contributed to the problem.
“The absence of these instructions increased the risk of the works being incorrectly implemented,” she said.
In response to the investigation, VicTrack has altered its rules about instructions for crews to require more detail.
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