Several crashes and near misses involving vehicles at sugarcane train crossings have sparked calls from the industry for motorists to obey signage in sugar-producing regions.
Over the past six weeks, Wilmar Sugar has reported multiple incidents where boom gates have been taken out, give-way signs flattened and trains derailed, causing thousands of dollars in damage.
The rail network is used to take sugarcane bins from the farm to the mill. (ABC News: Brooke Tindall)
Wilmar’s general manager for cane supply and grower relations, David Zeller, said recent crashes had involved both members of the sugar industry and travellers.
“Incidents occur each year, but it would appear that in the last six weeks we’ve had a more concentrated number of incidents that have occurred right up and down the coast,” he said.
“It’s not just members of the [sugarcane] haul-out industry, it’s also members of the public and children that are involved in these incidents.”
One incident occurred near Sarina, 30 kilometres south of Mackay, when a vehicle towing a caravan ran through a boom gate as a train was approaching.
“We’re lucky that loco [cane train] has narrowly missed a collision with that caravan,” Mr Zeller said.
In the same fortnight, tracks were closed for 24 hours near Ingham, about 100km north of Townsville, after a tractor caused a train to derail.
An incident in the Herbert region derailed a train and rolled a tractor. (Supplied: Wilmar Sugar)
The tractor had been crossing the railway line when the train collided with it, causing the tractor to tip and the train to come off the tracks.
In the Burdekin region, Wilmar trains captured footage of children riding motorbikes on the tracks.
The chair of Canegrowers Burdekin, Glenn Betteridge, said train drivers were often members of the local community, and they did not need their job being made unsafe.
“They have children and grandchildren and I’m sure they don’t want to be responsible for hurting someone or, even worse, getting someone killed on those lines.”
Children have been riding motorbikes on the railway line as trains approach. (Supplied: Wilmar Sugar)
Mr Betteridge said shutting railway lines down due to incidents could create significant delays for farmers.
“Depending on the seriousness of the incidents, a line could be shut down for a number of days,” he said.
“This can have severe impact on those growers who receive their cane bins on that line.”
Mr Zeller said people needed to be vigilant at cane train crossings.
“Our trains operate around the clock, seven days a week.”
He said cane trains are not able to stop quickly.
“It can take a fully loaded cane train up to one kilometre to come to a complete stop.
“Take notice of the signage that’s there and most of all, give way to the locomotives.”
