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Aurizon Managing Director & CEO Andrew Harding says rail safety is everybody’s responsibility and is calling on motorists to put the safety of themselves, their passengers and Aurizon’s train drivers first.

“Our train drivers operating across the country continue to see high levels of reckless behaviour at level crossings,” Mr Harding said.

“Over the past year, our drivers experienced more than 130 dangerous near misses at level crossings because of reckless behaviour by motorists.

“We are urging people in all communities to stop taking risks with their lives and the lives of our drivers. If people continue to take risks, it’s only a matter of time before the outcome is fatal.

“For every near miss there is a very real and emotional impact for our drivers and their families.

“When our drivers see a vehicle or a person on the tracks, they can’t simply stop or swerve to miss. Even when the emergency brakes are applied, a fully loaded train can take two kilometres to stop, and the outcome can be devastating.”

<pstyle="margin-bottom:>Aurizon’s call to action comes as part of National Rail Safety Week, which starts tomorrow (13 August). It is the rail industry body TrackSAFE’s annual community awareness week held in Australia and New Zealand and designed to engage the community in safe rail practices.</pstyle="margin-bottom:>

 

This year, Aurizon has partnered with TrackSAFE and the Queensland Government on a series of billboards to share the rail safety message.

The billboards are located on the Dawson and Bruce Highways in Central Queensland, and the Pacific Motorway and Gateway North Motorway in South East Queensland.

The message to the community is: Stop. Look. Listen and Think. STAY OFF THE TRACKS.

Aurizon has produced a Rail Safety animation to help educate the community about level crossing safety, available on YouTube.

The TrackSafe Foundation website also hosts a range of rail safety education materials: www.tracksafefoundation.com.au