Sydney tram drivers say they fear more pedestrian deaths without urgent safety fixes
Sydney tram drivers say the city's light rail infrastructure needs to be made safer after a second fatal incident involving a pedestrian in two years.
The drivers, who spoke to Guardian Australia on the condition of anonymity because they were afraid of losing their jobs, said they had been banned from sharing information about the deaths with colleagues.
Drivers said they decided to risk speaking out because they wanted safety changes and had concerns about the current set-up, including that it was too easy for someone to fall into the gap between a crowded platform and a tram.
They raised concerns that existing safety measures were not adequate, saying the trams' camera system was too slow to switch on and an emergency sensor underneath the carriages did not activate during the two recent fatal incidents.
One driver said they were discouraged even from sharing articles about safety issues, such as one published by Guardian Australia on 7 June, two days after a pedestrian was hit and killed by a tram in Surry Hills.
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A driver raised concerns that they were being silenced by Transdev, the light rail's private operator. Guardian Australia has obtained a leaked internal communique from 8 June warning staff not to talk among themselves about the deaths.
'Sharing content or discussing distressing details – whether through employee or unofficial channels – is disrespectful and potentially in breach of the code of conduct,' Transdev warned drivers in the note.
'They always put out things like that, trying to not let us really talk about incidents that have happened,' a driver said. 'My gut feeling is they just don't want the driver group as a whole to know too much about things that happen.'
But a Transdev spokesperson said the note was 'aimed at reminding all employees of their obligations to wider staff wellbeing and not designed to curb discussion about the related news coverage'.
'Formal and informal mechanisms for safety conversations between employees and employer representatives, and additionally with unions are part of regular engagements held monthly to discuss diverse ranges of safety issues,' they said.
On Sydney's L2 and L3 routes, two 33m-long trams are coupled together to form 66-metre-long vehicles. On 5 June, a man died at the light rail stop in Surry Hills. Police said they believed he was trying to cross between the first and second carriage.
In 2023, a teenage girl died after becoming trapped underneath a tram while attempting to cross a street in the CBD. Police told the ABC at the time that she had been trying to climb between the two tram carriages.
The drivers who spoke to Guardian Australia said Sydney's trams had been fitted with a metal barrier underneath the carriages, which was attached to a sensor that would be triggered if it ran over something and bring the tram to a halt.
'Occasionally they're triggered at the front when you've gone over a cardboard box or something,' one driver said. 'In the [2023] incident in Chinatown, we knew the tram had gone 100 metres without stopping and it didn't work because it [was] meant to trigger an alarm and stop the tram.'
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David Babineau, NSW division secretary at the Rail, Tram and Bus Union, said anecdotal evidence from members was that the system did not engage the way it was supposed to.
'Whether that means it was switched off, or not operating, we would expect [the Office of the National Rail Safety Regulator] to get to the bottom of it,' Babineau said.
'When the coupled trams were introduced, we were explicitly promised it was impossible for someone to get run over at the beginning. Why now are two people dead in two years?'
Drivers told Guardian Australia the trams had been fitted with cameras after the 2023 death that allowed them to see some blind spots around the trams whenever they were stopped at a platform, but there could be a delay in these activating.
'It sometimes does take a few seconds longer than it should to appear,' one driver said. They said drivers were 'under the pump to make trips on time' and so might not wait for the camera feed to appear on the dashboard.
'There is a delay of a few seconds of the camera coming up,' another driver said. 'The phase of the signals are telling you you have to go, your doors are closed and you're ready.'
One driver said the yellow line at the light rail stops should be moved further back, as it was right at the edge of the platform and commuters were confused about where to stand, reinforcing concerns raised by a woman who witnessed the death on 5 June.
Annalise Gasparre, 27, who said she was at the light rail stop when the pedestrian was hit, said 'you could fit two people' between the platform and the coupling joining the two trams.
'To be honest, I think the light rail design needs to be changed,' she told Guardian Australia last week. 'The danger gap is so big.'
Transdev and Transport for New South Wales declined to comment on the record when asked about the sensors, cameras, or yellow safety lines at platforms.
Transdev suggested the sensors installed on light rail vehicles were not disabled for any reason, but would not clarify when asked if this included the second carriages or if they had ever been disabled.
The company suggested the yellow safety line visually marked the edge of the platform, helping to prevent slips on to the track, as light rail platforms were closer to street level than train platforms.
The drivers who spoke to Guardian Australia echoed calls from experts who suggested that the gap between the tram carriages be blocked off with netting or another sort of barrier, to prevent people from trying to cross between them.
They said the coupling area was dangerous and the existing warning signs weren't enough of a deterrent.
'Further deaths are inevitable, really,' one driver said. 'The only way to stop that is to restrict access to it.'
A Transdev spokesperson said an investigation into the Surry Hills death would review what controls were in place.
'We cannot speculate further on any controls or conditions at this time,' they said. 'While the matter is investigated, we are unable to comment further.'
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