Arc Infrastructure, the Western Australian rail operator, is upgrading level crossings in Kalgoorlie to reduce traffic waiting times, while also rolling out the second phase of its program to improve the safety of level crossings across its network.
The $1.8 million upgrades to seven level crossings in a 10km section from West Kalgoorlie to Parkeston and Leonora form part of Arc Infrastructure’s signalling program which commenced last year.
Civil works were carried out in 2017 to prepare for the transition of power lines to optic fibres in the rail corridor. A further $3 million in signalling infrastructure works will be carried out on this section of track.
The seven level crossings will be upgraded with prediction systems that will shorten the time motorists will have to stop at boom gates, as well as improving efficiencies for the operator.
“The use of train predicting systems instead of conventional train detection systems will allow for the level crossings to be active for a shorter period of time, resulting in shorter wait times for traffic,” Arc Infrastructure’s Sudip Saha said.
“This work also removes visible wires, decreasing the infrastructure’s exposure to vandalism and damage meaning that less maintenance will be required on an ongoing basis.”
Arc Infrastructure is also carrying the second phase of its program to upgrade level crossing safety at locations across Perth Metro and regional rail lines.
This year, 15 level crossings will be upgraded to allow rail network patrollers to activate level crossing from their road rail vehicles.
“In the past, a rail network patroller has had to stop and get out of their car to manually activate a level crossing. Moving forward, a patroller will be able to do this from their vehicle, meaning they can pass the level crossing safely,” said Arc Infrastructure’s project engineer Jed Sung.
The first phase of the project was carried out last year, and saw 56 level crossings upgraded and 31 road rail vehicles installed with the remote-control technology. Around half a million will be spent on the program.