Speed and stopping
Fact 1
Once the driver has engaged the emergency brakes, a passenger train takes around 250 metres to stop. That is the same length as 2½ football fields! How many seconds would that take? It can take 1 kilometre for a freight train going 60 km/hour to stop. How many lengths of a football field is that? How many seconds would that take?
Fact 2
Trains can’t stop quickly! They don’t have ABS brakes like cars do.
Facts 3 and 4
Trains can’t swerve to avoid an object or person, because they are on tracks.
Trains in Australia can travel up to 110 km/hour in city areas (just like a car on a motorway), and 160 km/hour in country areas.
Fact 5
Once a driver sees something or someone on the tracks, all a driver can do is engage their emergency brakes and hope they stop in time.
