BRIMBANK police were on the beat at St Albans train station last week in a bid to promote railway safety.
Transit police patrolled the station for three hours last Tuesday as part of Rail Safety Week.
Transport Safety Victoria data released last week showed eight pedestrians were involved in rail crossing incidents last financial year, up from two in 2010-11. Neither Transport Safety Victoria nor Public Transport Victoria would provide the number of incidents in Brimbank.
But the Weekly reported in January that a man in his 40s was killed while crossing the tracks near St Albans station.
In January, the Weekly also reported that from 2007-09, 26 incidents were recorded at the crossing with trains narrowly missing vehicles, cyclists or pedestrians.
Sunshine’s Acting Inspector Chris Gilbert said
railway safety, and the number of pedestrians and motorists taking risks, remained a concern.
Taylors Lakes resident Sarah Vosti, who commutes daily to St Albans, said traffic around Brimbank’s rail crossings was a major issue.
“It’s always so congested,” she said. “I have to say I don’t feel safe at St Albans station either. I reckon it would have to be the worst [station] I know of in Melbourne.”
Fellow commuter Marian Tran, of Deer Park, said she had seen pedestrians running across tracks daily.
“It’s mostly young people … they barely look as they run across,” she said. “They don’t seem to check if the lights are flashing or a train is coming.”
Transport Safety Victoria’s acting rail safety director Andrew Doery said the department would work with rail operators to ensure public transport operated safely and risks at level crossings were properly managed.
No date has been set for the promised removal of St Albans’ Main Road crossing, despite the site being No.4 on the state government’s priority list.
Two crossings on Anderson Road, Sunshine, will be removed as part of Regional Rail Link works.
