Railway crossing ahead sign
A railway crossing is ahead, so slow down, look both ways and be ready to stop for a train.
- Group
- Warning signs
- The group at a distance
- Diamond, standing on one point, with no exceptions in this group. Yellow ground, black symbol.
- Does this group carry the law
- Not enforceable on its own. It changes nothing about right of way.
- In the sign deck
- 3 questions ask about this sign
What to do when you see it
In the order you do it, from the moment the sign comes into view.
- Slow down and be ready to stop before the crossing.
- Look both ways along the track, because a second train can follow the first.
- Never queue onto the crossing: wait until there is room on the far side before you start over.
- Obey the stop or give way sign at the crossing itself, and any flashing lights or boom gates, whether or not you can see a train.
Where you see it
On the approach to level crossings, in rural areas and outer suburbs, and near stations and freight lines.
Across the states and territories
The warning is national. What sits at the crossing itself is not: some crossings have boom gates and flashing lights, many rural crossings have only a stop or give way sign, and passive crossings are more common in the freight regions of Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia than in the capital cities.
Tell it apart from these
Both signs at the same size, next to each other, with the one line that separates them. These are the pairs people mix up under time pressure.
- Railway crossing aheadthis pageStop ahead
Many level crossings are controlled by a stop sign, so the two warnings can appear on the same approach and mean different things.
Stop ahead: There is a stop sign just ahead, so slow down and prepare to stop completely.
- Railway crossing aheadthis pageHump
Some crossings are raised enough to jolt a low car, and both signs may appear together, but the train is the reason for the crossing sign.
Hump: There is a raised hump across the road ahead, so slow right down before you reach it.
How the knowledge tests use it
The queuing rule is the question: do not enter a crossing until you are certain you can clear it.
A real question from the sign deckWhat does this sign mean?
The train symbol in a yellow diamond warns that the road and the railway cross at the same level. There may be lights, boom gates or nothing but a give way or stop sign.
State and territory driver handbooks, level crossings
Try it in a question
The sign tests draw the artwork above the question and ask what it means, which is closer to the way you meet a sign on the road than reading a page about it. They are original questions written for this site rather than an agency's published bank.
More warning signs
Yellow diamond with a black symbol.