An occupation crossing allows an landowner whose land is split in two by a (new) railway (or road) to retain access from one parcel of land to the other. Where is crossing a railway line, it is a special kind of railway level crossing.

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In Victoria, this is authorised by section 36 of the original Act. Occupation crossings were historically granted to a landowner under Section 36 of the Lands Compensation Statute 1869 VIC and the subsequent corresponding legislation being Section 43 (2) of the Land Acquisition and Compensation Act 1986 VIC.^[1] Other states would have similar Acts.^[2][3]

However, in the case of Stockinbingal, on the new Inland Railway^[4] things are not that simple. Some railway land that is no longer used needs to be allocated to one or other of the adjacent landowners, while other lands are cut off from their original owners and would best be transferred to the other side, with compensation. This is because there are small pockets of land with awkward shapes, and other characteristics. There may need to be a Section 36A that permits all the neighbouring land owners and the railway authorities, once they have agreed amongst themselves, to allocate the remaining pockets of odd land as they see fit.

• level crossing of owner's access and railway;
  • this is problematic if train speeds are high or visibility of approaching trains is poor;
  • With some kind of level crossing warning signals.
  • communication via phone with signaller for permission to cross.
  • communication via emails, etc., from signalling system.
• overpass or overbridge; possibly expensive unless convenient cutting is available.
• under pass with normal clearances; expensive unless convenient embankment is available.
• under pass with limited clearances for humans, livestock, and low height farm machinery;
  • sometimes spare spans of an existing bridge or culvert is available.
• access via existing alternate routes;
• where new or altered fences and gates are needed, under the NSW Dividing Fences Act,^[5][6][7] the cost can be shared, or alternately the railway supplies the material and the land owner provides the labour. Old obsolete railway rails can be used to make strong fence posts.

The Inland Railway project requires land acquisition.^[8][9]

• Diamond crossing
• Double junction