Re: Sydenham Blockade

[Mr Simpson <mdoyle@mail.usyd.edu.au>]

Why do we have to go to such great lengths to stop people from crossing?
locking gates, etc.. this is ridiculous!
The red lights means stop.. simple as that - if you're stupid enough to go
against them, then face the
consequences. (By the way I'm agreeing with you, Yuri)... Perhaps we should
place steel wheelsets on
pedestrians and install safeworking equipment like trainstop trips and dead
man's handles etc.. maybe then
we can blame fatalities such as this on faulty equipment or on the signaller?

Homer

Yuri J Sos/Melbourne wrote:

> A 16 year old Sydenham youth stepped out across the level crossing
> behind an up train and was hit and killed instantly by a down Bendigo
> train.
>
> In spite of the fact that bells, lights and booms were down, locals
> blamed VLP and the State Gov for the accident, due to the lack of
> automatically locking pedestrian gates at the level crossing.
> Sydenham station was attacked and vandalised.  There is an enormous
> amount of local community anger at the accident and the local
> politicians are responding to this anger.
>
> In a classic Gov media relations stuff-up, the Gov said that locking
> pedestrian gates would cost $120,000, and the gates will be fixed when
> the highway is duplicated later this year.  The local community said
> that many more people could die if there was a delay in installing
> these pedestrian gates.  Local people found the gate manufacturer, who
> said it would cost $10-$20k to build/install locking gates, depending
> on which paper you read.  Then, according to page 3 today's "Age", the
> Gov has come back and said "aah yes, $10,000 for the gates, but
> $120,000 for connecting it to the existing control circuitry", which
> has to be utter b******t.
>
> The sad thing is that, while the family grieves the unnecessary loss
> of their child, no-one seems to want to mention that one has to accept
> responsibility for one's actions.  Certainly, in the current highly
> charged climate, no local politician would dare say anything like it.
>
> I watch pedestrians here at Anderson Road walk across the double lines
> to Bacchus Marsh in front of and immediately behind trains while the
> level crossing bells/lights/boom are working.  At the Anderson Road /
> St Albans line crossing, which has closing pedestrian gates, people
> walk on the road to walk around them when the booms are down.  They
> jump off Albion station to get to their cars in the adjacent car park
> a little quicker, not realising they could be taken out by an up SG
> goods.  A fence was installed along both sides of the Bacchus Marsh
> line west from Anderson Road.  (mostly) Youths still jump the fence
> and walk across the lines in front of trains.
>
> This was a tragic accident (and a stupid waste of a young life), but
> the answer is, as Michael K said, education - expand the A Lert
> campaign or model school education programs like the US Operation
> Lifesaver project.  One could imagine that TAC-like ads showing
> someone stepping out behind a train into the path of another oncoming
> train would have an enormous impact.
>
> We don't put gates and fences on footpaths where they cross roads, we
> educate our kids to look both ways, etc.  That's what we need to do
> with our railway crossings.
>
>
> Regards
>
> Yuri
> --
> ==================================
> Yuri J Sos
> Melbourne VIC AUS
>
> Reply to: steam4me@enternet.com.au
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