By Jennifer Perry
“The relentless strobe effects of thousands of lights bolted to the tunnel walls at eye-level has raised fears it could cause a driver to collapse, with one already being taken to hospital,” it was reported.
A spokesperson for RailCorp told Rail Express that the driver in question said he felt “dizzy and unwell” on arrival at Chatswood so he was taken to hospital as a precaution.
“He subsequently advised that he believed that the ECRL lights were the cause of his headaches but this statement was not made until some time later and has yet to be medically established,” the spokesperson said.
However there are a small number of other drivers that have also complained about the lighting in the ECRL.
The RailCorp spokesperson said the ECRL and RailCorp acted “quickly and correctly” to mitigate any possible risk and have taken “proactive and precautionary” action.
“After the issue was raised, RailCorp consulted with driver Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) representatives about this incident and…control measures…were put in place,” the spokesperson said.
Measures include restricting drivers to two return shuttle runs before they have a break instead of a previous maximum of 10 shuttle journeys or five return trips, with drivers also advised to keep their cab light on and to pull down the side window blind to minimise the flicker of lights.
While media reports suggested that a stand-by driver had been put in place at Epping station to cover if any drivers fell ill during a shift due to the effects of the tunnel’s lighting, the spokesperson emphasised that the stand-by driver is there for “operational contingency”, i.e. for any event that might require a relief driver.
“This is an arrangement that is replicated at other key locations on the network and it did not come about as a result of the lighting,” the spokesperson said.
RailCorp said that since the precautionary measures were introduced seven weeks ago there have been no further complaints and ECRL drivers have been provided with regular updates ever since.
“RailCorp and TIDC are conducting further investigations to see if there is an established problem and if this problem still exists now that driver changes have been put in place,” the spokesperson said.
“Even if no link is found to the lighting, RailCorp has introduced the controls described…to make sure that drivers are comfortable and that they understand the issue.”
RailCorp stated that there is no safety risk to passengers and that there is safety devices fitted to all trains to protect against any loss of capacity of the driver.
The spokesperson also said media reports that claimed the $2.3 billion ECRL is already $1 billion over budget were untrue.