DIANNE Dejanovic doesn’t want another mother to feel the hurt she carries inside her.
Earlier this year, her son Christian, 31, was struck by a train while he crossed the St Albans Main Road crossing on his way home from work. It’s believed he was attempting to race an oncoming train across the tracks when he was hit on January 24.
Seeking action on the long-promised removal of the deadly crossing, Ms Dejanovic is urging family, friends and other Brimbank residents to rally at the site at 8am next Monday, on what would have been Christian’s 32nd birthday.
Ms Dejanovic said she was making a desperate call for the state government to begin removal works and prevent more deaths. “Nothing will bring him back,” she said. “But more people will die at this crossing unless something is done.”
There have been 17 deaths at the crossing in the past 30 years, according to St Albans Traders Association secretary Asip Demiri. The crossing is No.4 on the state government’s priority list, but no date has been set or funding allocated for its removal. The rally comes in the wake of two more deaths at separate railway crossings in St Albans this month.
Ms Dejanovic, who has lived in St Albans for more than 40 years, said the railway was filled with bittersweet memories. She met her husband Charlie in 1969 while they waited for a train at St Albans station.
It was also where Christian’s uncle worked for more than 25 years as a railway clerk. Now, it is a place of gut-wrenching sadness.
While she uses the crossing daily to get to work, the pain never fades. “I go to the spot where he died and cry,” Ms Dejanovic said. “I come home from work and my husband is crying. Instead of enjoying speaking to other mothers about my son, I now attend a support group for mothers of dead children. Something has to be done to stop another person dying . . . another mother from feeling this pain.”
Ms Dejanovic said if the government did not commit to starting work on the crossing’s removal, she would organise another rally on November 17 to coincide with a 2010 pre-election promise made by Transport Minister Terry Mulder.
Calling for immediate action, Mr Demiri said traders had lost faith in promises made by MPs. “This government was jumping up and down promising action while it was in opposition, but now they are doing the exact same as the former government.”
As reported by the Weekly, Western Metropolitan Liberal Bernie Finn last week said he had discussed the project with the Transport Department. He has long maintained physical work would begin in the government’s first term.
Earlier this year, Mr Mulder said the government had made an “unprecedented commitment” to remove notorious level crossings and Labor had done little in its 11 years in power. Last week, his office did not respond to requests for comment. Ms Dejanovic has started an online petition calling for the crossing to be removed.
Details: change.org/en-AU/petitions/stop-the-train-crossing-carnage-at-st-albans-railway-crossing
