Have you been affected by railway suicide? Tell us your story here While overall suicide rates in Victoria are falling, according to the mental health support network Mindframe, the state's railway suicide toll is the highest in the country, leading to calls from state government departments for train fatality blackspots to be made ''suicide proof''. Officials point to the 90 per cent of Victoria's railway lines that are unfenced. Yet, according to state government figures from 2007-08, the entire metropolitan network could be fenced for about $82 million, $130 million less than the cost of the Baillieu government's promise to deploy 940 armed protective service officers at train stations. Five years ago, researchers from Melbourne University's Australian Centre for Post-traumatic Mental Health described rail suicides as an ''emerging public health problem'' to be treated as a high priority. But despite widespread concerns, the issue has been hidden from the public because of a taboo on the recording and media reporting of suicides. Little, if any, action has been taken.

Now, mental health experts recommend a new approach to suicide reporting by the media that neither hides nor softens a major public health, workplace safety and community issue. Nevertheless, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau does not count suicides in the official figures of rail fatalities. These deaths can cause havoc with the rail system. Melbourne's former rail operator, Connex, estimated that in less than three years suicides had caused immediate travel delays that represented 23 years of lost productivity. During the same period, the trauma to employees led to the loss of more than 2000 working days and a counselling bill of nearly $50,000.

Metro and V/Line refused to comment on what support they gave drivers involved in fatalities or, indeed, on anything regarding suicides or deaths on the network. A Metro spokesman told The Age the issue was too sensitive for staff. ''This is a complex area that we don't feel needs any public discussion,'' he said. Yet Metro is a partner in a new national public awareness campaign, TrackSAFE, launched last month, which aims to cut rail deaths, including suicides. Train drivers, some of whom have witnessed several deaths, have told The Age they are haunted by the last moments of people they have watched die. One driver was involved in an accident that killed a three-year-old boy in Wallace, near Ballarat, last year and another has been diagnosed with a serious mental disorder as a result of at least five deaths under his trains in a 30-year career.

Another driver described feeling like a Vietnam War veteran because of a lack of acknowledgement of the trauma he had experienced. Andrea Phelps, the Australian Centre for Post-traumatic Mental Health's acting director of policy and service development, said it was important for drivers' mental health that their experiences be validated by the general community. Drivers' trauma was often heightened by being powerless to prevent an imminent death, she said. Mental health expert and former Australian of the year Patrick McGorry said the mental health of train drivers was at risk daily. But he said those who took their own lives were desperate and it was important not to forget their grieving families and loved ones. ''I feel really sorry for the drivers and also all the families traumatised when people die. Trauma is very damaging for [the drivers'] mental health,'' Professor McGorry said. ''It's a massive occupational health and safety hazard for these people.''

He welcomes recently updated media guidelines on suicide reporting. They are part of the government-backed Mindframe mental health initiative. Professor McGorry said a taboo on discussing suicide meant many Australians were unaware more people died as a result of suicide than in road accidents. Loading Tomorrow: more reports at theage.com.au, plus Focus in The Age For help or information visit beyondblue.org.au, call Suicide Helpline Victoria on 1300 651 251, or Lifeline on 131 114.