Level Crossing Management

Who is responsible for level crossings in Victoria?

 

As level crossings are an intersection where a road and railway line meet, several key organisations are involved in their upgrade, maintenance and management.

 

 

Who maintains level crossings?

 

Public transport operators are responsible for ongoing maintenance of railway crossings. They are:

• V/Line for country Victorian rail lines;
• Connex for the metropolitan Melbourne rail network; and the
• Australian Rail Track Corporation for interstate rail lines (which also operate through parts of metropolitan and regional Victoria).

 

Road authorities such as VicRoads and local councils maintain the road approaches to level crossings, including signage and the road surface.

 

Land owners are also required to maintain vegetation around level crossings to ensure a clear line of sight for motorists and trains alike.  A land owner can be V/Line (especially the rail reserve beside the line), VicRoads, councils, utilities such as electricity and water companies, or the land may be privately owned (particularly if the crossing is not accessed by the general public).

 

 

What role does each organisation perform?

 

V/Line

 

V/Line is responsible for:

• Providing passenger services in accordance with its franchise agreement;
• Providing access to other parties operating freight or passenger services on its network; and
• Maintaining infrastructure which forms part of the V/Line lease from VicTrack, including the railway track, rail reserve and level and pedestrian crossings.

 

 

Road Authorities

 

Road authorities manage the roads that cross railways and are responsible for the road surface and the advanced road signage.  Under the Road Management Act, VicRoads manages the Victorian arterial road network and its operation.

 

Local government road authorities manage the remainder of the road network within their jurisdiction.

 

Further information about arterial roads within Victoria can be found at the VicRoads website (new window).

 

 

Local Government

 

Councils:

• Manage local roads and their operations; and
• May manage arterial roads under agreement with VicRoads.

 

Further information about council boundaries can be found at the MAV website (new window).

 

 

VicTrack

 

VicTrack owns all tram and train land and infrastructure on behalf of the State of Victoria.  In addition, VicTrack:

 

• Delivers level crossing and pedestrian crossing protection upgrades on behalf of the PTD.
• Manages and maintains the Australian Level Crossing Assessment Model (ALCAM).

 

 

Director of Public Transport (Department of Transport)

 

• Coordinates and monitors all public transport services within Victoria through the management of franchise agreements with private operators of train and tram services;
• Leases land and infrastructure to the Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC), V/Line and metropolitan public transport operators (Connex Melbourne Limited); and
• Manages and monitors the level crossing upgrade funding program and co-ordinates state level crossing committees.

 

 

Safety Interface Agreements

 

Recognising that there are many people and organisations responsible for level crossings around the state, the Rail Safety Act 2006 legislated a requirement for all parties - such as councils, road authorities and local land owners - to have a Safety Interface Agreement (known as a SIA).

 

SIAs set out an organisation’s responsibilities – both broadly across the whole state – and specifically at each crossing.  In the long-term it will help us all take consistent and appropriate action to prevent accidents at level crossings.  V/Line is working with councils and other authorities in establishing agreements in regional Victoria.

 

It is expected that SIA process will be completed by mid 2010 for public access road level crossings.

 

For more info about SIAs and other key level crossing safety issues, contact V/Line at community.relations@vline.com.au