Ms JENNY AITCHISON (Maitland—Minister for Regional Transport and Roads) (19:00): Yesterday was the start of national Rail Safety Week, which runs from 5 August to 11 August. Early last week I visited with the Secretary of Transport for NSW, Josh Murray, the Maitland and Broadmeadow train stations where I spoke to staff about the importance of safety on our railways. Yesterday I attended the Australian Railway Monument in Werris Creek for a ceremony that paid tribute to and commemorated the lives of those who have been lost on the railways. Four and a half thousand people have lost their lives on Australia's railways since the 1850s, and 800 names, predominantly from Queensland, were recently added to that list on the national Wall of Remembrance. Drivers Kevin Baker and Mick Warren, who died in a level crossing crash on a Pacific National freight train near the South Australia-New South Wales border on 31 December 2023 were added to the list this year.

It was humbling, sad and terrible to watch their families and friends, and the wider rail family, grieve the loss of those two men, and the many other people that we have lost in many years on the railways in Australia. The monument, which is managed by the Werris Creek Rail Journeys Museum and its president, Gwen Hohnke, updated its records ahead of this year's nineteenth annual Rail Safety Week, and it has been working with around 100 organisations across Australia and New Zealand promoting rail safety awareness. The ceremony was hosted by the TrackSAFE Foundation and its executive director, Heather Neil, as well as Matt Longland from Sydney Trains and Roger Weeks from NSW TrainLink. The event also included representatives from freight operators Pacific National, Qube and Aurizon; the Australian Rail Track Corporation; and the Rail, Tram and Bus Union, including its secretary, Toby Warnes.

All of us came together to remember the people that we have lost on our railways. The railways are such an important part of people's lives in the regions—particularly Werris Creek, which was the former central station of the west and established in 1878 as Australia's first railway town built for the purpose of the railways. It was a major New South Wales hub for about 70 years and remains vital today. In the past 12 months, just under 10,000 passenger and freight services have passed through, including trains transporting more than 24 million tonnes of coal. There are other people impacted by rail safety who were not commemorated in the ceremony: those who have lost their lives at level crossings. I pay special tribute to Maddie Bott and Lara Jensen, who are passionate advocates for rail safety. Both of them have lost family members and loved ones in rail crossing accidents. It is important that we all are one family when it comes to commemorating those who have lost their lives on the railways.

Before I went to the ceremony yesterday, the member for Tamworth and I went to Callaghans Lane Level Crossing, near Quirindi, where someone died last year. While we were there we announced a $1.2 million trial of digital technology designed to improve level crossing safety in rural and regional areas, particularly where there is not a lot of power to the sites. It is the first trial in New South Wales of the Rail Active Crossing System, which is a modular, low-cost solution that uses wireless train-activated technology to make signs light up when a train is coming on the track. It is powered by solar power and it also has a fail‑safe mechanism with 10 days of redundancy that causes a stop sign to light up if the power is not available. These are the kinds of things we are trying to do to assist in reducing the number of deaths on our railways, whether it is people who might be trying to self-harm, people who make a mistake or miscalculation, or people who work on the railway.

Looking at the names on the wall, the ages of some of the workers who died really hit home. There were 14-year-olds who were used to be called hook boys who put the trains together; there were gate ladies who used to open the gates for the trains; and there were many drivers, fettlers and others who worked on the trains. It was humbling to hear about the impact of every loss. Gwen spoke of her then boyfriend, now husband, who lost 100 days as a result of an injury on the railway. It is not only death but also long-term injury that results. I urge everyone to view this week as an opportunity to do better and work towards delivering a safer rail network.