The son of a cyclist killed by a train in Adelaide says his death could have been prevented if safety improvements had been finished at the pedestrian crossing where he was hit.
Mark Aizengendler was hit by a train at a pedestrian crossing near the North Adelaide railway station in June, and died a month later from his injuries.
The crossing that the 64-year-old physicist and engineer died at had a maze, but traffic lights and buzzers that had been installed have still not been turned on to make it an "activated" crossing.
The Gawler train line that runs past the station had only reopened two weeks before after being closed for 18 months for electrification work.
Five pedestrian crossings along the 40-kilometre route have been activated but another eight that also cross freight train tracks are due to be completed early next year, according to South Australia's Department for Infrastructure and Transport (DIT).
Those crossings require work on signalling systems for both the Gawler line and the freight line that heads north from Adelaide, a spokeswoman said.
DIT said it was hoping to speed up the work.
Father 'a very careful person'
Dr Aizengendler's son Roman, who lives in Tasmania, said his father's death was "really an accident that shouldn't have happened".
"It was an accident that could have been prevented had the appropriate cues and warning lights been activated," Roman Aizengendler said.
"… Given my father did everything right in terms of looking both ways, disembarking, not being under the influence of any drugs or alcohol, and was generally a very careful person, it's really something that could have happened to anyone.
"It just ... has had to happen to someone in our family rather than someone in someone else's family.
"It's also particularly sad that this was the second or third incidence in the space of two months where this has happened and without something changing quickly, unfortunately will probably not be the last of these incidents in the short term."
An 81-year-old man was badly injured when he was struck by a train at the nearby Ovingham station — also on the Gawler line — in July, while a 62-year-old woman was killed when she was hit at a crossing on the Outer Harbor line in May.
SA Police said there were almost 20 collisions on South Australia's rail network over the past year, including those in regional areas.
During Rail Safety Week earlier this month, Inspector Julian Coram urged pedestrians to look up from their mobile phones and watch for trains.
"Don't cross against the red man," he said.
"For motorists, if the hazard lights are flashing and the alarms are sounding, then bring yourself to a stop."
Roman Aizengendler said his father did everything to stay safe.
"Not only was he familiar with that crossing and that area around it, he was also a particularly careful and conscientious person," he said.
"... In that particular instance, my understanding is that he also was quite careful.
"He disembarked, looked both ways and did everything you'd expect any adult to do or anyone to do."
Police are preparing a report for the Coroner into Mark Aizengendler's death.
Funding for other railway crossings
This year's state budget included money to install activated crossings at the Clarence Park railway station, on the Seaford line, as well as near Kilkenny Primary School, at a cost of $1.5 million.
The DIT spokeswoman said all pedestrian crossings on the Gawler line met required safety standards.
She said the operator of Adelaide's commuter trains, Keolis Downer, had "implemented further measures, including speed restrictions and sounding of horns".
The Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC), which owns the freight line that runs parallel to the Gawler line, said it was providing support for DIT's upgrade works.
"We think it is important to remind communities through which our network passes about level crossing safety whenever we can," a spokesman said.
"ARTC encourages everyone to put safety first when you are near a rail line – whether you're working on track, waiting to catch a train, or crossing the tracks at pedestrian and level crossings."
Several pedestrian rail crossings were either activated or closed along the Seaford line in 2017, to improve the safety and speed of trains.
