The Office of the National Rail Safety Regulator (ONRSR) has released a second independent assessment of the effects of additional lighting on freight locomotives.
Conducted by the Monash Institute of Railway Technology (Monash IRT), the study specifically examined the impact of additional flashing LED beacon lights mounted on the front and side of locomotives. It is the second such assessment of additional train lighting commissioned by ONRSR in as many years.
ONRSR Chief Executive and National Rail Safety Regulator, Dr. Natalie Pelham said the insights delivered by the latest Monash IRT investigation had been fundamental to the national regulator’s ongoing efforts to improve safety at thousands of level crossings around Australia.
“What the research tells us is that while in isolation additional train lighting is not a silver bullet solution, it is one of a range of controls that can be used to improve safety at level crossings under certain conditions,” Pelham said.
“It confirms that any comprehensive approach must consider not only lighting but other visibility issues such as vegetation clearance, improved signage, and further revisions of the relevant national standard.”
The research helped inform the draft Train Visibility at Level Crossings Code of Practice that ONRSR recently submitted to State and Federal Transport Ministers.
The code is designed to assist rail transport operators to strengthen the overall safety management systems that underpin operations where trains interact with people, drivers and vehicles – with an emphasis on risk controls to improve train visibility.
“Once approved we’ll have in place a well-considered and responsibly developed safety resource that is backed by a significant body of independent research,” Pelham said.
The Monash IRT report, is the culmination of months of research informed by the collection of over 500 luminance measurements in various scenarios including vegetation obscurity, simulated weather conditions and different daylight and night-time conditions.
While the report confirms that additional lighting does provide some enhancements at night, it found that efforts to improve level crossing safety holistically must consider it in the context of a range of factors and controls.
With 74 per cent of collisions and 81 per cent of near hits at level crossings occurring during the day, the report lists among its conclusions, that “…the rail industry should focus on alternative ways to increase the visibility of locomotives during the day.”
“We commissioned this research to ensure that train lighting continued to be carefully considered as part of ongoing efforts to improve level crossing safety in Australia,” Pelham said.
“By using this information to inform the development of a code of practice that will have legal standing, and through the commitment made by the Rail Industry Safety and Standards Board to review AS 7531 – Rolling Stock Lighting and Visibility, we’re doing exactly that.
“However, the fact remains that reducing safety risks at level crossings is not a simple problem with a simple solution, but rather is a collective responsibility applying a multifaceted approach.
“Rail transport operators, road and infrastructure managers, members of the public, governments, emergency services and regulators all have a vital role to play.”
ONRSR is supporting a range of projects and initiatives aimed at improving level crossing safety across the country, including in New South Wales where trials of new camera technology at crossings are underway.
Elsewhere, in March of this year, ONRSR was a key participant at the National Level Crossing Safety Roundtable in Brisbane – attended by more than 60 different stakeholders representing the road and rail industries, regulators, unions, academics and researchers.
It came in the wake of an incident on New Year’s Eve 2023, where two train drivers were killed when their freight train collided with a truck at a level crossing which was fitted with flashing lights.
At the conclusion of the Roundtable, ten actions were identified as integral to delivering short-, medium- and long-term level crossing safety benefits in addition to actions under the National Level Crossing Strategy.
They were assigned to multiple agencies, including ONRSR, and cover topics such as driver education, camera technology, train visibility, better use of telematics and data, a review of the road and rail manager agreements and a renewed investigation into penalties for drivers who disobey road rules at level crossings.
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