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Loud and clear? Train horn practice at railway level crossings in Australia
journal contribution
posted on 2021-10-05, 00:13 authored by Grégoire S Larue, Sepehr G Dehkordi, Christopher N Watling, Anjum NaweedAnjum NaweedThe road environment has changed markedly over the years. Train horns are ostensibly used to alert road users and are typically mandatory on approach to railway level crossings. However, they have increasingly been seen as a nuisance. Beyond their negative aspects, a study has yet to comprehensively evaluate train horn effectiveness and understand if they remain beneficial and relevant in the contemporary environment. Hence, this study aimed to provide evidence on the actual use of train horns. Field observations were conducted at 54 railway crossings across four Australian States. The effects of level crossing type, location, and environmental conditions were investigated in relation to train horn loudness as objectively measured at the crossing. Results revealed that train horns were not always used, presenting an issue for passive level crossings. However, when sounded, train horn use was redundant and insufficiently loud at level crossings equipped with bells. Taken together, current train horn practice was found to be highly variable and dependent on crossing type, remoteness, and individual train drivers, thus resulting in inconsistent warnings and raising important implications for standardisation.
Funding
Category 3 - Industry and Other Research Income
History
Volume
95Start Page
1End Page
10Number of Pages
10eISSN
1872-9126ISSN
0003-6870Location
EnglandPublisher
ElsevierPublisher DOI
Language
engPeer Reviewed
- Yes
Open Access
- No
Acceptance Date
2021-04-09External Author Affiliations
Centre for Accident Research and Road Safety - Queensland (CARRS-Q)Author Research Institute
- Appleton Institute
Era Eligible
- Yes