REGISTER

Peter Short Bachelor of Engineering, Civil

Department of Transport and Urban Planning, Transport SA

This paper details the events following the tragic accident of 24 October 2002, when the Ghan passenger train collided with a car and public transport bus at the Park Terrace level crossing, Salisbury. Four people died and 26 people were injured in the accident.

The State Government initiated a number of investigations into the cause of the accident, and to identify safety initiatives that could be implemented at and around the level crossing to reduce the risk of a similar accident occurring in the future.

The key safety initiatives were trialed over a six-week period and showed to significantly reduce the risk of a traffic queue forming on the level crossing. Following the trial further works were implemented to improve efficiency of the road network in the immediate vicinity of the level crossing and to further improve safety.

Since the implementation of the initiatives, the Department of Transport and Urban Planning, Transport SA has received no incident reports relating to traffic queues on the level crossing.