Deaths at level crossings entirely preventable, says rail freight operator

The 20 deaths at level crossings recorded by the Railway Safety Regulator (RSR) in its 2020/21 state of safety report were entirely preventable because motorists and pedestrians frequently overestimate their abilities when they are at a level crossing.

Thando Makoyi, compliance manager at Traxtion — Africa’s largest private freight rail operator — made this remark on Wednesday ahead of the International Level Crossing Awareness Day (Ilcad).

Ilcad is a worldwide initiative run on June 10 annually to improve awareness of level crossing safety, and about 50 countries take part in the annual campaign.

A level crossing is a place where a railway and a road, or two railway lines, cross at the same level.

“People don’t think about the speed of a train and how heavy it is. It takes time for a train to stop, even if it is going slowly as is required at level crossings. The tonnage of the train propels it forward, and it has a massive impact when it hits something,” Makoyi said.

In SA, Traxtion is joining forces with the RSR to take the awareness campaign to all stakeholders, particularly motorists and pedestrians.

There are about 7,500 level crossings in SA. Traxtion said while the death toll at these level crossings seems low, there should be no deaths or injuries at level crossings.

Makoyi says Traxtion makes sure that the infrastructure in the areas it operates in is always functional and has urged the rest of the rail industry to do the same. Makoyi says every single incident at a level crossing in Traxtion’s areas of operation involved a motorist ignoring warning signs or simply not paying attention.

Though no deaths or serious injuries have occurred thus far, he said, these incidents have damaged vehicles and resulted in delays of trains.

Spokesperson for the RSR, Madelein Williams, said trains have the right of way at level crossings. There are sufficient warning signs heading to level crossings, including stop signs, booms, flashing lights, or traffic lights.

Williams said North West, KwaZulu-Natal and Western Cape accounted for 53% of all level crossing occurrences in SA during the past year.

“We call on all rail operators to join us in the awareness campaign and to comply with the safety regulations in place to ensure safe passage for the public and railway operators at level crossings,” Williams said.

One of the activities lined up for the awareness day is a visit to a level crossing in Orkney in North West. The  province recorded the most level crossing occurrences in the country last year (20%).

RSR and Traxtion will on Thursday also be visiting Vaal Reefs Technical School in Klerksdorp to speak about railway career opportunities.

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