IT’S Rail Safety Week and as part of the annual awareness campaign Victorian authorities are aiming to get people to be more aware around trains and rail infrastructure.
This year the push is all about awareness, literally with the key messages being “Pause your tunes. Looks for trains” and “Phone down, look up”.
In 2023 there were nearly 600 near misses on the state’s rail network, with 124 of them coming in V/Line areas.
A statement from the State Government said is can take a train traveling at 100km/h at least 400 metres to come to a stop.
“Rail Safety Week is an important opportunity to remind passengers to keep safe across our public transport network,” said Minister for Public and Active Transport Gabrielle Williams.
State Government data from last year reported 3000 incidents of trespassing on the Victorian rail network, or more than eight a day.
“Trespassers cause significant disruptions on the network, and delay thousands of passengers while operators check the line to ensure it is safe to resume services,” the statement said.
“The Labor Government continues to support public transport workers impacted by trauma from incidents across the network.”
V/Line CEO Matt Carrick called on people to be safe around the rail network at all times of year.
“Trains can come from either direction at any time, so always obey the signs, gates, booms and signals at level crossings, and only ever use authorised crossings,” he said.
Rail Safety Week runs until 11 August and for more head to tracksafefoundation.com.au
