Drivers and pedestrians are illegally crossing railway tracks near Deer Park train station because boom gates are down for up to 40 minutes.
In a letter to Western Metropolitan MP Bernie Finn, Deer Park resident Daniel Attard said there was an “escalating safety issue” at the Mount Derrimut Road crossing.
Sunshine police’s Acting Inspector Brenda Bagally confirmed safety at the level crossing was an “ongoing issue”.
“The gates are down not just from getting stuck but from more trains coming through,” she said.
Police transit safety division inspector Karl Curran told Star Weekly in July that the Regional Rail Link and new V/Line timetables increased the number of trains going through level crossings at Deer Park and Sunshine West.
Police said they were “absolutely sick” of drivers “dicing with death”.
New timetables for the Ballarat line are due in late January but are not a direct response to Deer Park safety concerns, the state government has said.
Mr Attard stated the delays were leading to dangerous behaviour from train commuters, pedestrians and cyclists, who are crossing the tracks.
“I’ve witnessed on countless occasions pedestrians, rail commuters and cyclists climbing over or walking around the safety barriers while the crossing alarm is sounding and the boom gates are down,” he wrote.
“Several times I have witnessed motorcyclists riding around the boom gates and passengers in vehicles attempting to raise the smaller boom gate by hand, allowing vehicles through.”
He wrote, “there had been and still are frequent and significant malfunctions” with the boom gates.
Gates down and no trains
“[Recently] the boom gates were down for a continual period of approximately 25 minutes.
Often, during the morning and afternoon peak periods, the boom gates are down for significant lengths of time, in regular cases between 25 and 40 minutes.
“This includes periods of up to 10 or 12 minutes when no train is either arriving or departing the platforms at Deer Park station.”
Traffic at Station Road has increased by 34 per cent over the past decade, Brimbank council’s transport priorities report notes. This put the Deer Park crossing fourth on a list of seven the council wants removed.
But the crossing is not on the state government’s priority list of the 50 most urgent.
In August, Kororoit MP Marlene Kairouz called on Transport Minister Jacinta Allan to sort out severe traffic congestion at the crossing.
“I ask the minister to investigate what options are available to address traffic congestion at the Deer Park railway …caused by the railway gates being down for long periods of time,” she said.
A spokesman for the minister said the government would ensure V/Line inspected and monitored the level crossing.
