<span class="" id="parent-fieldname-description"> Australia and New Zealand have united to promote rail safety education and awareness across the Tasman, following the amalgamation of the New Zealand rail safety charity the Chris Cairns Foundation with Australiaâs harm prevention charity, TrackSAFE. </span> <p>The formal launch of TrackSAFE Foundation New Zealand (TrackSAFE NZ) was held at the country’s Parliament on October 15, with chairman of TrackSAFE Australia, Bob Herbert, saying he was delighted to see a formal collaboration between the two organisations.<br /><br />“Too many people lose their lives in preventable incidents in both New Zealand and Australia,” he said.<br /><br />“I am delighted to be here in New Zealand to support this initiative and show that we are united in addressing the issue of rail safety and working together for a better future for Australians and New Zealanders.”<br /><br />Chairman of the new TrackSAFE NZ board, Jim Quinn, acknowledged the Chris Cairns Foundation’s success, and was excited about formally working together with TrackSAFE in Australia.<br /><br />“We can’t afford to be complacent and let this issue fall off the agenda,” Quinn said.<br /><br />“One level crossing collision between a fully loaded passenger train and a heavy vehicle could be potentially catastrophic and every near collision, incident and fatality can also cause severe and lasting trauma for affected rail employees.”<br /><br />An MoU was signed to formalise the agreement between the two organisations.<br /><br />Chris Cairns will remain an ambassador to the two TrackSAFE organisations and will continue to actively support and promote charitable initiatives that drive to improve safe behaviour around the rail corridor in both countries, TrackSAFE.<br /><br />For a in-depth feature on TrackSAFE NZ and the benefits the amalgamation will bring to rail safety across Australia and NZ see the AusRAIL PLUS edition (November) of Rail Express – the official publication of the AusRAIL conference: <a href="http://www.ausrail.com"><strong>www.ausrail.com</strong></a></p>
