Australian families unite in new campaign pushing for greater level crossing safety

Twelve Australian families, who have all lost loved ones in rural and regional rail crossing crashes, have united in their calls for action.

Together they’ve launched the RailFail campaign, which is pushing for the Australian government to legislate mandatory train and rolling stock lighting and force the rail corporations to install proper safety measures at rural and regional Australian rail crossings.

Currently, 80 per cent of rail crossings outside metropolitan Australian cities don’t have flashing warning lights or boom gates, and many of the trains don’t have safety lighting.

In 2000, West Australian pastoralist, Lara Jensen’s 20-year-old brother, Christian and his friends Jess Broad and Hilary Smith, were killed at night when a train smashed into their car at a railway crossing that was only fitted with a give way sign. None of the occupants saw the train and no alcohol, speed or drugs were involved in the accident.

Christian’s family have campaigned for safer railway crossings ever since, but Lara says that all these years on, still nothing has changed.

“For decades, we have campaigned to save lives and been met with an obstructive rail industry, a toothless regulator and successive governments unwilling to force the most basic safety reforms,” Jensen said.

“As a result of this inaction, we’ve needlessly lost many more people at rail crossings and the figure grows every year,” she continued.

“In many industries, flashing lights and side lighting are used to warn people of an approaching hazard.

“It’s crazy that trains, which hurtle across more than 20,000 level crossings in the country and can be up to 1.8km long, only have similar lighting to the tiny light you see on motorbikes.

“Coroners, safety reviews, the Monash Institute of Railway Technology and numerous committees have all recommended better lighting, such as rotating beacons or strobe lights on trains. The rail industry has refused to budge. This has inevitably led us to conclude that the rail industry and its safety regulator don’t really care and the only way they will bring in adequate safety measures is if the federal government mandates them.

“We’re now in 2024. My husband and I have four little kids. Little kids my brother will never meet. I’m beginning to fear railway crossings will still be as dangerous by the time my kids learn to drive. Are we really prepared to lose the next generation of kids to these poorly lit trains and needlessly dangerous railway crossings?”

Jensen says that while she knows it’s a David and Goliath battle, as the families push for change, they’re prepared to continue the fight.

“In the interests of the safety of all Australians it’s a battle worth having. We’re up against ASX listed rail corporations with the deepest pockets and teams of spin doctors, lobbyists, and lawyers,” she said.

“We don’t have those resources but what we do have is the facts documenting the rail industry’s failings and love and grit in equal measure. Together, we’re giving our all to ensure the deaths of our loved ones count for something.”

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