Trains and trams provide a critical network for the transport of passengers and freight across our State.  However the combination of speed, passengers and freight travelling on intersecting rail and road systems has the potential for high impact or catastrophic incidents.

Risk taking at rail level crossings is hazardous – any incident at a railway crossing can cause service disruptions, motorist delays, property damage, trauma, and in the most serious cases, injury and death. Research has shown that the major cause of crashes at railway level crossings is road user behaviour like inattention, distraction, risk taking and disobeying the road rules. Responsibility for managing railway crossing safety is shared by many organisations, including State and local governments and rail infrastructure owners.

The Rail Safety National Law (South Australia) Act 2012 obliges rail infrastructure managers and road managers to identify and assess safety risks associated with level crossings, and to seek to enter into an interface agreement for the purpose of managing those risks.

South Australia’s Railway Crossing Safety Strategy

In 2016, South Australians were invited to have their say on South Australia’s Railway Crossing Safety Strategy and the State Government announced that $12 million would be invested over four years for a Railway Crossing Safety Improvement Program, while also considering reducing the number of railway crossings.

Seaford line pedestrian crossings

For information relating to the Seaford line Pedestrian Crossing Safety Program, click here.

More information

• South Australia’s Railway Crossing Safety Strategy (PDF, 1305 KB).
• Railway Crossing Safety Improvement Program
• Railway Crossing Policy (PDF, 100 KB)
• For more information on the signs and signals and the road rules that apply to level crossings please refer to the Crossings section in The Driver's Handbook
• Refer to our safety tips  on the level crossings section of the my licence website
• TrackSAFE Foundation is a rail industry initiative endeavoring to reduce near collisions, injuries and fatalities. Information about their current projects and educational material can be found at http://tracksafefoundation.com.au/
• Office of the National Rail Safety Regulator