National Level Crossing Awareness Day will be celebrated at Enstra level crossing in Payneville on October 18 and 19.
In an effort to celebrate and mark this day, Transnet Freight Rail (TFR), a division of Transnet Limited, is embarking on a National Level Crossing and Safety Awareness Campaign with the support of some of its key stakeholders, namely the Rail Safety Regulator, PRASA, Railway Police, The SAPS, Community Forums, DOT and others.
TFR spokespeson Mike Asefovitz says with the high rate of level crossing incidents which leaves a number of people being fatally injured, TFR takes a huge step in making sure that community members are safe.
“Ignorance of both motorists and pedestrians is the main reason why statistics of human fatalities are so high.
“Numerous conferences have proven that the most effective way of sensitising the general public on acting safely at a level crossing is by educating communities about the varying risks and the consequences of not obeying the rules of the railway crossing,” he says.
The number of accidents thus far in 2017 was 55 and the total number of fatalities in the last five years countrywide were 107.
“We plan on reducing the 2016/2017 statistics with level crossing campaigns,” says Asegovitz.
He invites the community to join them and assist the railway community to reduce this level of operational risks that we as a nation face.
