Sydney Trains Security Control Centre Operator was not alerted to tampering of the cameras at Kembla Grange Station that monitored the West Dapto Road Level crossing.
Sydney Trains identified in their investigation that tamper alarms on level crossing cameras were meant to be installed as part of a program that commenced in 2015.
In the process of installing these, it was identified the cameras were being triggered too frequently, causing too many false alarms so the project team was instructed to disable the functionality.
An alternative solution was not progressed so the tamper alarms were not installed on any of the level crossing cameras.
Response by Sydney Trains
CCTV software has been recently upgraded to allow use of a centralised server-based analytics engine to provide alarm functionality. Additionally, Sydney Trains has purchased software licenses to allow development / testing / trialling of this software. It is believed that the more sophisticated analytics available will allow detection of incidents such as the tampering at the West Dapto Level Crossing while reducing the false alarm rate.
ATSB comment
This action is appropriate to ensure a risk control for trespassers on the rail line being detected is in place. In the interim period, while the control is being developed, tested and trialled, without any other control for tamper detection, the trespasser risk remains untreated..
