Australia - Passenger train minutes from disaster
Posted: 02 Aug 2008, 16:03
Passenger train minutes from disaster as freight train derails
Herald Sun
Wayne Flower
August 02, 2008 12:00am
A PASSENGER train was only minutes from disaster when a freight train derailed, spilling tonnes of steel in northern Victoria.
The 43-wagon, 800m and 3502-tonne Pacific National train bound for Melbourne tore up almost a kilometre of track when the last 12 wagons came off the rails.
Nine wagons careened off the rails, with just three remaining upright.
No one was injured and the three locomotives remained on the track and were undamaged.
The accident occurred at 8.50pm, about 8km north of Benalla. A minute later, a V/Line passenger train was due to depart from Benalla in the opposite direction.
V/Line spokesman Chris Whitefield said that the trains would have passed each other.
"Trains run parallel every day," he said. "But as far as accidents like this go, they're extremely rare."
An Australian Transport Safety Bureau spokesman said that the chances of such a rail crash disaster occurring were remote.
"They'd be very unlucky. Train control is set up in such a way that if there's a reported incident, they stop all the trains," he said.
Bureau officers spent the morning investigating the scene before clearing the way for track repairs.
The incident not only damaged the standard-gauge rails used by freight trains, but the broad-gauge track used by passenger trains.
Australian Rail Track Corporation spokesman Brad Emery said repair crews would work 24 hours a day during the weekend to repair the damage.
V/Line spokesman Daniel Moloney said passengers leaving Melbourne todaywould be transferred to buses at Benalla for the journey to Albury and vice-versa.
"We hope to get back on track past Benalla on Sunday. But it's likely to be Monday," he said.
Bad weather and difficult terrain hampered recovery and repair works yesterday.
Heavy vehicles were called in to recover the derailed wagons, which were expected to take at least 48 hours to clear.
The cause of the accident will not be known until safety bureau officers conclude their investigation.
Herald Sun
Wayne Flower
August 02, 2008 12:00am
A PASSENGER train was only minutes from disaster when a freight train derailed, spilling tonnes of steel in northern Victoria.
The 43-wagon, 800m and 3502-tonne Pacific National train bound for Melbourne tore up almost a kilometre of track when the last 12 wagons came off the rails.
Nine wagons careened off the rails, with just three remaining upright.
No one was injured and the three locomotives remained on the track and were undamaged.
The accident occurred at 8.50pm, about 8km north of Benalla. A minute later, a V/Line passenger train was due to depart from Benalla in the opposite direction.
V/Line spokesman Chris Whitefield said that the trains would have passed each other.
"Trains run parallel every day," he said. "But as far as accidents like this go, they're extremely rare."
An Australian Transport Safety Bureau spokesman said that the chances of such a rail crash disaster occurring were remote.
"They'd be very unlucky. Train control is set up in such a way that if there's a reported incident, they stop all the trains," he said.
Bureau officers spent the morning investigating the scene before clearing the way for track repairs.
The incident not only damaged the standard-gauge rails used by freight trains, but the broad-gauge track used by passenger trains.
Australian Rail Track Corporation spokesman Brad Emery said repair crews would work 24 hours a day during the weekend to repair the damage.
V/Line spokesman Daniel Moloney said passengers leaving Melbourne todaywould be transferred to buses at Benalla for the journey to Albury and vice-versa.
"We hope to get back on track past Benalla on Sunday. But it's likely to be Monday," he said.
Bad weather and difficult terrain hampered recovery and repair works yesterday.
Heavy vehicles were called in to recover the derailed wagons, which were expected to take at least 48 hours to clear.
The cause of the accident will not be known until safety bureau officers conclude their investigation.