[SA] TransAdelaide/ARTC crossing problems at Blackwood

["Arthur Marsh" <mars0177@flinders.edu.au>]

This afternoon about 4:50pm, the Blackwood crossing barriers had been down
for a while and cars were moving around the barriers.
I called the TransAdelaide Transit Police and told them of the situation,
and they replied that they were aware of the situation and that there had
"been an accident". I was concerned that had a train on one track come to a
halt on a track section that activated the crossing barriers, a train on the
other track, under control of the other operator might not have been made
aware of the problem, and given the tight curve either side of the crossing,
not have much warning of cars crossing. However, the Transit Police made no
statement to the effect that all trains in the area had been notified of the
situation, and I was left to wonder what would have happened had a
TransAdelaide train come to a halt on one side of the crossing and a 1500
metre long goods train was approaching the crossing from the opposite
direction.

I was wondering if there is a practice anywhere (and particularly for
crossings containing tracks under the control of more than one operator) of
remotely monitoring the state of crossings, to provide automatic
notification to train controllers of trouble situations with crossings?

Arthur.