NTRO Level Crossing Assessments

Challenge

Assessing level crossings for compliance is a significant challenge in Australia. With over 23,000 level crossings, assessment backlogs exist making the targeting of safety improvements difficult.

Level crossing assessments are resource intensive and difficult to audit, while manual observations expose personnel to hazards.

Solution

In collaboration with National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO) Agonics undertook a study to develop a desktop methodology to assess safety critical level crossing parameters using road and rail MLS datasets.

Focusing on a representative sample of level crossings assessments were completed in accordance with the Australian Level Crossing Assessment Model (ALCAM). Detailed reports were generated for each level crossing and included safety critical parameters such as available sighting distances versus ALCAM calculated sighting distances.

Outcomes

• The study successfully assessed safety critical level crossing parameters using high-resolution MLS data.
• The XERRA platform was able to visualise available sighting distances and ALCAM-calculated distances, facilitating easy auditing.
• The project established a solid foundation for a desktop-based methodology that can be adopted by any Australian railway network.

Download Full Case Study here