At the time of the collision, the Australian Rail Track Corporation and the Port Adelaide Enfield Council did not have an interface coordination plan to manage the risks associated with the Stirling Street level crossing interface, including the installation and maintenance of pavement marking.
Safety recommendation
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau recommends that the Australian Rail Track Corporation takes action to address this safety issue.
The ARTC accepts the above recommendation. The ARTC has been
working towards establishing an interface agreement with the SA
Department for Transport, Energy and Infrastructure for several
years. It is anticipated that once a model agreement is established
negotiations with Local Government agencies will progress at
a significantly faster rate.
Negotiations with Local Government organisations if not
progressed as a block via the Local Government Association will
need to be progressed by individual negotiation with each
interfacing Council.
If the latter situation is the case ARTC reserves the right to
prioritise negotiations based on a number of interfaces and
perceived risk to the safety of rail operations.
After monitoring the response to the recommendations issued to
the ARTC and the Port Adelaide Enfield City Council for 12 months,
the latest advice received from the relevant SA Department is that
it is anticipated that a Bill amending the SA Rail Safety Act 2007
that will mandate Level Crossing Interface Agreements between the
rail track owner and the relevant road authority will be enacted
during 2011. Given that both the ARTC and the Port Adelaide Enfield
City Council have agreed to the recommendations and because the
ramifications pertaining to level crossings are State-wide rather
than any given level crossing, the ATSB considers that the matter
is being dealt with at the appropriate level.
