TasRail introduces changes to its level-crossing warnng regime

TasRail is responding to the legitmate community concerns associated with the volume of the horns fitted to the new locomotive fleet and would like to thank the community for their patience.

TasRail is now in the process of introducing amendments to the current level crossing warning regime for its trains that involve changes to both the frequency of horn “blasts” and the volume of locomotive horns during certain times.

The changes being introduced are as follows;

1. A reduction in the minimum duration that the horn must be sounded on approach to level crossings (from four seconds to one second).

2. Further to the above, the “low-note” horn to be used between the hours of 10pm and 6am.

3. Also, removing the requirement to use the horn within TasRail’s operating and maintenance facilities in certain circumstances. If the horn is required to be sounded then the low-note horn will be used.

It should be noted that the above describes the minimum requirements, and that the locomotive driver shall exercise discretion and apply the horn for longer periods and/or use the “high-note” horn if the circumstances require such action (eg. trespassers on track, car or truck approaching crossing).

TasRail CEO Damien White said “….we thank the community for their patience with this matter. Level crossing safety is a significant risk to all Tasmanians and TasRail, and we hope that the community understand that any changes require time and consideration to assess the impacts – if it was an easy problem we would’ve fixed it much sooner. I expect that the changes will resolve the community concerns, and in fact will deliver a quieter outcome for trackside communities than before, and at the same provide our drivers with the discretion to better deal with the out-of-the-ordinary, but significant near-miss events.”

The changes will come into effect late next week.
TasRail CEO Damien White