Victorians are being urged to remain vigilant near rail lines, as national Rail Safety Week gets underway.
Marking its 20th anniversary, the annual awareness week reminds people to Expect the Unexpected when travelling on or near train lines, including at level crossings.
There were 178 level crossings on Melbourne’s electrified rail network – more than any other Australian city.
The Level Crossing Removal Project is removing 110 of the most dangerous and congested level crossings across the city by 2030, with 87 already gone for good.
Since it started in 2015, the project has avoided hundreds of serious and potentially fatal incidents, separating trains and vehicles by getting rid of dangerous and congested level crossings throughout Melbourne.
Safety data shows the program has prevented 112 crashes and near misses each year on the rail network.
In addition to removing 87 level crossings so far, 2 major train lines – Lilydale and Sunbury – are now completely free of boom gates, eliminating some of Melbourne’s most dangerous level crossings.
The Main Road and Furlong Road level crossings in St Albans were among the first to be removed and the scene of multiple fatalities and incidents, with 2 deaths and more than 60 near misses recorded at the Main Road level crossing in the decade prior to its removal in 2016, and 3 fatalities at Furlong Road.
A memorial garden featuring a plaque honouring all Victorians killed at level crossings was included in the new station built at St Albans as part of the Level Crossing Removal Project.
On the Lilydale Line, level crossings at Union Road, Surrey Hills and Mont Albert Road. Mont Albert , both the scene of numerous near misses, were fast tracked for removal after 2 women were killed at Union Road in 2016 when their car was struck by a train.
Another 9 dangerous level crossings were removed as part of the Caulfield to Dandenong level crossing removal project, with more than 120 accidents or near misses recorded from 2013 to 2017, including 32 at Heatherton Road, Noble Park, 26 at Clayton Road, Clayton and 21 at Grange Road, Carnegie.
The Regional Rail Revival program has also boosted safety for motorists and passengers across the state, improving train detection technology at more than 140 level crossings on regional rail lines, and removing level crossings at Fyans Street and Surf Coast Highway in Geelong.
