Australia - Brisbane SPAD derailment
Posted: 09 Apr 2009, 10:11
Brisbane Citytrain driver missed red light in derailment
Article from: The Courier-Mail
Ursula Heger and Robyn Ironside
April 07, 2009 12:00am
THE driver of a Brisbane train which derailed with 150 people aboard, sparking commuter chaos, had to be told by the rail control centre he had run a red light.
An incident report obtained by The Courier-Mail reveals a call was made to the driver after he missed a signal near Eagle Junction on Brisbane's northside at 6.16am.
The train derailed when the driver tried to reverse the locomotive back behind the red light.
Passengers yesterday told how they feared the train would topple over after the morning's peak hour derailment.
Erica Lestin, who was in the front carriage of the Nambour to Roma Street service, said the train drove through a red light and then stopped for a few minutes before reversing.
"It didn't reverse very far before there was a bump, much like going through a big pothole in the car, and the train carriage tilted to one side. And that's where it stayed," said Ms Lestin.
"Luckily he didn't reverse any more or I suspect there may have been a possibility of the carriage tilting into the ditch next to the rail line."
The latest signal breach continues a disturbing trend of train drivers in Queensland running red lights.
According to the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, there were 133 Signal Passed at Danger incidents in Queensland last financial year, up from 106 the previous year. And at least 10 drivers have been sacked over SPAD incidents in the past five years.
While several trains were near the station at the time of the incident, Queensland Rail yesterday insisted that commuters were never in danger.
The impact of the derailment was felt across the CityTrain network as 40,000 commuters were affected across the network.
Seven services from the Airtrain, Nambour, Shorncliffe and Doomben were cancelled and a further 51 delayed for up to an hour.
Queensland Rail Passenger Executive general manager Paul Scurrah said the driver of the train had been stood down with pay pending a full investigation into the incident.
"We treat signals passed at danger with the upmost levels of seriousness," Mr Scurrah said.
Ms Lestin said passengers sat in carriages for several minutes wondering what had happened.
"We heard that a wheel had come off (the track)," Ms Lestin said.
Commuters then waited for another hour before they were evacuated via "a tiny ladder at the front of the train".
"QR needs to get its act together in respect of emergencies and have some form of emergency access points," Ms Lestin said.
Premier Anna Bligh said Queensland had a safe rail network and described the accident as "very unfortunate".
Article from: The Courier-Mail
Ursula Heger and Robyn Ironside
April 07, 2009 12:00am
THE driver of a Brisbane train which derailed with 150 people aboard, sparking commuter chaos, had to be told by the rail control centre he had run a red light.
An incident report obtained by The Courier-Mail reveals a call was made to the driver after he missed a signal near Eagle Junction on Brisbane's northside at 6.16am.
The train derailed when the driver tried to reverse the locomotive back behind the red light.
Passengers yesterday told how they feared the train would topple over after the morning's peak hour derailment.
Erica Lestin, who was in the front carriage of the Nambour to Roma Street service, said the train drove through a red light and then stopped for a few minutes before reversing.
"It didn't reverse very far before there was a bump, much like going through a big pothole in the car, and the train carriage tilted to one side. And that's where it stayed," said Ms Lestin.
"Luckily he didn't reverse any more or I suspect there may have been a possibility of the carriage tilting into the ditch next to the rail line."
The latest signal breach continues a disturbing trend of train drivers in Queensland running red lights.
According to the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, there were 133 Signal Passed at Danger incidents in Queensland last financial year, up from 106 the previous year. And at least 10 drivers have been sacked over SPAD incidents in the past five years.
While several trains were near the station at the time of the incident, Queensland Rail yesterday insisted that commuters were never in danger.
The impact of the derailment was felt across the CityTrain network as 40,000 commuters were affected across the network.
Seven services from the Airtrain, Nambour, Shorncliffe and Doomben were cancelled and a further 51 delayed for up to an hour.
Queensland Rail Passenger Executive general manager Paul Scurrah said the driver of the train had been stood down with pay pending a full investigation into the incident.
"We treat signals passed at danger with the upmost levels of seriousness," Mr Scurrah said.
Ms Lestin said passengers sat in carriages for several minutes wondering what had happened.
"We heard that a wheel had come off (the track)," Ms Lestin said.
Commuters then waited for another hour before they were evacuated via "a tiny ladder at the front of the train".
"QR needs to get its act together in respect of emergencies and have some form of emergency access points," Ms Lestin said.
Premier Anna Bligh said Queensland had a safe rail network and described the accident as "very unfortunate".