In his response addressed to Clerk of the Legislative Assembly Ms Helen Minnican, Mr Toole said his thoughts were with locals after the accident near Quandialla earlier this year.

"My thoughts are with those affected by the incident at Quandialla in February of this year," he wrote.

"Every life lost on our roads is one too many and NSW Government is working hard to ensure that tragedies like this are prevented."

Mr Toole went on to say that they acknowledge the information provided by local advocate Maddie Bott who lost her fiance in the accident at Quandialla in the petition and sited a number of NSW Government programs that are aimed around safety at level and railway crossings.

"The NSW Government acknowledges the safety benefits of active traffic controls especially boom gates and flashing lights in reducing the crash risks at level crossings," he said.

"In 2000, the NSW Level Crossing Improvement Program (LCIP) was established. Managed by Transport for NSW, it is intended to accelerate upgrades to level crossings assessed as a priority for safety enhancements, and to fund safety education campaigns and enforcement initiatives.

"Funded by the NSW Government, LCIP is an annual program with a budget of over $7.3 million."

Mr Toole wrote since 2011-12, Transport for NSW has spent over $73 million through the LCIP to make level crossings in NSW safer, with the majority of funding going to Regional NSW including:

"Recently, Transport for NSW published the Level Crossing Strategy Council Strategic Plan 2021-2030 to guide work to further improve the safety of level crossings, and ultimately create a safe and efficient transport system in NSW," Mr Toole said.

"The rail industry continues to work proactively with operators and other stakeholders in relation to safety requirements which enhance the visibility of rolling stock, including contrasting colours on train livery, reflective decals and flashing or Ditch lights which are activated with the train horn."

Mr Toole also said the plan includes reducing speed limits on approach to level crossings with the plan to implemented in the next two years.

"Additionally, the NSW Government has reduced the road speed limits on approaches to all actively controlled level crossings in NSW, not just those on highways. This allows motorists more time to react and decreases the likelihood of vehicles not being able to stop," he said.

"The Transport for NSW program to implement speed reduction has identified 110 level crossings for speed changes and is planned for completion in 2022-23."

Mr Toole said that he had met with Member for Cootamundra Steph Cooke, Maddie as well as her fiance's parents, Mr and Mrs Hunter, in October.

"On 19 October 2021, I also met with Ms Steph Cooke MP in her capacity as the Member for Cootamundra, a Transport for NSW representative, Ms Bott and Ethan Hunter's parents, to discuss a number of initiatives being investigated by Transport for NSW to improve safety at level crossings," he said.

"These include low-cost active crossing controls and improvements through application based smart technologies for warning systems. Another initiative underway by Transport for NSW is the Harvest Safety Campaign which consists of signage use on farm gates, which warns contractors of active trains on and through farms."

Mr Toole also wanted to state that level crossing safety is a focus for him in his position as Transport Minister.

"I would like to take the opportunity to emphasise that level crossing safety is an area of focus for me and the NSW Government and part of our effort to achieve the Future Transport 2056 commitment of zero fatal and serious injuries on our transport network," he said.

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