AS 7632 Railway Infrastructure – Signage

The objective of this Standard is to promote a consistent approach to be incorporated into the design, construction, inspection, monitoring, maintenance and decommissioning of railway signage across the Australian rail industry.

This product provides whole of life requirements and recommendations for operations signage, covering design, implementation, and maintenance phases.

It promotes harmonisation in the rail industry through standardised colours, fonts, and shapes, creating a consistent visual approach across different rail systems.

Yes, it encourages consideration of human factors in signage design, ensuring that signs are intuitive, readable, and effective for all users.

This Standard has been updated to drive greater harmonisation in the railway industry through:

• Strengthened requirements for colours and fonts
• New recommendations for standard shapes to improve readability
• Better alignment with AS 7631 Sighting and AS 7721 Lineside signals, Indicators, and Signal Signage

Application of this Standard drives greater harmonisation in railway signage, significantly assisting rail traffic crew in being able to identify and read safety-critical signs. Standardised signage reduces the risk of misinterpretation, therefore reducing overall operational risk.

• Poor installation of signage
• Misinterpretation of signage
• Poor infrastructure maintenance

To implement this Standard, the following approach is recommended:

1. Review AS 7632 against applicable internal standards.
2. Identify common areas and variances.
3. Where commonality exists, update requirements to reference AS 7632 using your organisation’s change management process.
4. Where variances occur, assess whether AS 7632 provides better safety and/or harmonisation outcomes against your organisation’s risk profile and SFAIRP argument.
5. If AS 7632 results in improved outcomes, amend organisational standards accordingly.
6. If internal standards provide better outcomes, a derogation or deviation statement to AS 7632 may be required within your organisation’s standards.