Sydney Tram Safety: Whistleblower's Reveal

0:00A whistleblower from Transdev, the operator of Sydney's Light Rail, claims they trialled pedestrian sensors after a 17-year-old girl died. Trapped between tram carriages in May 2023, but scrapped the project over $500,000 costs before a second fatality. In June 2025, the sensors, adapted from car tech by Bosch, successfully detected people in the risky coupling gap between 66-meter-long double trams on L2. And L3 routes, according to the ex-employee. Transdev and partners like Outrak push transport for new South Wales to share expenses, but God denied, leading to a case that costs outweighed, benefits. Drivers on those lines are voicing real fears of more pedestrian deaths without fixes, feeling silenced after the second tragedy involving a German-born man at a Surrey Hill stop. Staff were gutted, arguing the tech was a no-brainer to save lives, yet regulators bought the cost argument initially.

1:02Now, post-2025 death, the project restarted under pressure from higher-ups at the National Rail Safety Regulator with Transdev, confirming fresh trials on coupling areas. They've added CCTV tweaks, better signs, and marking since the first incident, but the whistleblower says this could have rolled out flea-wide already. Regulators are digging deeper into safety systems, a joint coroner's inquest looms on both deaths, and everyone's watching if these sensors finally. Stick to keep folks safe on the tracks. This has been Sydney News Today, powered by AI.