I would like to call on Corangamite residents to ‘get on board’ during Rail Safety Week, by encouraging pedestrian and driver awareness around railways.
Safety is a top priority for the Turnbull Government, and we are investing record amounts on rail infrastructure upgrades across Australia.
After a hard fought local campaign, I am delighted that the Turnbull government is investing $110m in the South Geelong to Waurn Ponds rail duplication as well as planning and land acquisition for a rail corridor through Armstrong Creek to Torquay.
Another $114 million will be spent on the Warrnambool line for track and signalling works, and a passing loop west of Colac. The project will pave the way for more services and for new VLocity trains, which currently only travel as far as Waurn Ponds, to go all the way to Warrnambool.
Our government encourages everyone to engage with Rail Safety Week and to reduce near collisions, injuries and fatalities on our rail network. This will also be the case when the Turnbull Government rolls out the once-in-a-generation Inland Rail project and the National Rail Program.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau is the national rail safety investigator, and in the 2015–2016 financial year there were 84 fatalities.
We need to encourage safety around the tracks and bring this number down to zero.
An initiative of the TrackSAFE Foundation and the Australasian Railway Association, Rail Safety Week runs from the 14 to 20 August.