Safety device launched during National Rail Safety Week

The Australian rail network is the sixth largest in the world, with 44,000 km of track and 23,500 level crossings. On this network there are a reported 5000 trespass incidents, 70 level-crossing collisions, around 180 fatalities and thousands of near misses every year; therefore, safety remains one of its highest priorities.

Running from 12-18 August this year, Rail Safety Week is an Australasian rail industry initiative that sees operators across Australia and New Zealand come together to promote rail safety messages for one week every year. The Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) has used Rail Safety Week to launch its new Australian-designed and tested rail safety innovation called the Track Awareness Support System (TASS).

Comprising a beacon and a tripod, the portable device warns rail safety workers of incoming trains using the ARTC’s 3G national train communications network. It can pinpoint train movements using GPS and Telstra NextG technology and when locomotives reach a certain distance from track workers they are alerted via a siren and flashing lights.

“Trains can take well over a kilometre to come to a stop, so having an additional layer of safety that ensures track workers are clear of a work site when a train is passing through can only be a positive move,” ARTC Executive General Manager Technical Services Mike van de Worp said.

Weighing less than 10 kg, the beacons have been designed to be robust, portable, quick to set up and easy to use.

“These are important features that help railway protection staff deploy the system easily and stay focused on safely delivering their key job at hand,” said van de Worp.

“The mobility of the system and the reach of ARTC's national train radio network ensures our maintenance teams can easily deploy the TASS system in the remote corners of Australia that we work, including along the Nullarbor and the far west of the NSW outback.”

TASS has been undergoing a four-month live field trial at locations across NSW since June, including the North Coast, Hunter Valley and Main Southern Line toward Melbourne.

“It’s appropriate that we get to show-off TASS during National Rail Safety Week - a system that will be of great benefit to our staff and promotes our safety goal that no-one is harmed at work or on our network,” van de Worp said.

“It seems a simple device, but a lot of planning and hard work has gone into the design and development of TASS and the software behind it and, like the iPhone, it is this simplicity which makes it so brilliant.”

The TASS system is designed to complement existing rail safety rules and procedures.