Articles: Metro passenger train collides with freight train ....

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From the Herald Sun click here!

Metro passenger train collides with freight train near Craigieburn Station

Metro passenger train collides with freight train near Craigieburn Station

   * Ashley Gardiner
   * From: Herald Sun
   * May 04, 2010 9:14PM

UPDATE 11.09PM: A METRO train slammed into the back of a stationary freight train at Craigieburn last night, injuring five.

Paramedics took five passengers to hospital, including three suffering serious injuries.

The smash happened about 8.35pm near Patulios Lane, about 3km south of Craigieburn station.

Three people were taken to the Royal Melbourne Hospital, including the Metro train driver, who was suffering head injuries.

A 15-year-old girl was taken to the Royal Children's Hospital with back pain and another passenger went to the Northern Hospital, Epping, with minor injuries.

A paramedic said the incident could have been a lot worse, if it had not been for the fact only 12 passengers were on the train.

"The driver was very lucky, when you have a look at the cabin," the paramedic said.

The Metro train cabin windows were smashed by the impact with the Pacific National vehicle.

Metro cancelled trains on the line from Broadmeadows, replacing services with buses.

Train services were unlikely to resume in time for Wednesday morning's peak, Metro spokesman Chris Whitefield said.

The train involved in tonight's collision was a 25-year-old Comeng model, not one of the troubled Siemens fleet that has had occasional "sliding" incidents - where the train fails to stop.

Public Transport Minister Martin Pakula and Metro chief executive Andrew Lezala inspected the aftermath of the collision.

The train operator and State Government authorities have launched separate investigations into the smash.

In a bizarre twist, the same train was also involved in a collision in 2000.

In that incident, the train was stationary, but was hit by another moving train at Holmesglen station.

- with Elissa Doherty

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From the Melbourne Age click here!

Driver error and equipment failure blamed

Driver error and equipment failure blamed
CLAY LUCAS
May 6, 2010

FAILING signalling equipment and driver errors have led to an increase in the number of trains failing to stop at red signals in the past two years, government figures show.

Two investigations have begun into what caused a crash on Tuesday night near Craigieburn, in which a Metro suburban train failed to stop at two red signals and rammed into the back of a stationary freight train.

Public Transport Minister Martin Pakula would not speculate last night on possible penalties for Metro.

The only penalties likely to be imposed by the Department of Transport are fines for running some trains late, a spokeswoman said.

Fourteen passengers and the driver were injured in the crash, the first to cause serious injuries to commuters on Melbourne trains since 2000.

Among the injured was a 15-year-old girl, who Metro chief executive Andrew Lezala visited in hospital yesterday. ''She is expected to make a full recovery but she is clearly very shook up by the experience,'' he said.

Mr Lezala said the last two stations on the Craigieburn line were likely to remain closed this morning because testing was necessary on signalling, overhead wires and tracks.

Government authority Public Transport Safety Victoria (PTSV) late last month released figures on trains that passed red signals. They showed an increase from 173 ''signals passed at danger'' in 2008 to 211 in 2009.

By February this year, 412 red signals had been passed by drivers in the past two years, because of driver error or broken equipment.

Two investigations by government agencies are under way into Tuesday's crash, by the Office of the Chief Investigator, and PTSV.

Neither chief investigator Ian McCallum nor PTSV head Alan Osborne would comment on when they would release preliminary results of their investigations. Premier John Brumby highlighted the independence of their work, but opposition transport spokesman Terry Mulder said having government authorities investigating could end in a cover-up.

''When you have got a serious accident like this, it is just not appropriate for PTSV - which is a state government agency - to be investigating,'' he said. Mr Mulder called on the federal transport investigator to look at the crash.

The accident was preceded by another brake failure on one of the city's Siemens trains, which overshot the Brighton Beach station platform by six metres. The train's brakes are being tested.

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From the Herald Sun click here!

Train driver on indefinite leave as investigations continue into crash

Train driver on indefinite leave as investigations continue into crash

    * Ashley Gardiner
    * From: Herald Sun
    * May 07, 2010 12:00AM

THE driver at the centre of this week's train smash at Craigieburn has been placed on indefinite leave.

Investigations continued on Thursday into the worst railway crash in Melbourne for a decade.

They are examining the tight window of time the Pacific National freight train had to pass through Craigieburn station.

Sources familiar with train operations in the area told the Herald Sun the northbound line is clear for no more than four minutes every half hour during the evening.

This is because Craigieburn has only one Metro platform, and trains wait there between services.

This restricts the flow of rail traffic on the northbound line beyond Craigieburn.

The Pacific National train passed through Roxburgh Park station about 8.23pm.

At that time, a train would have been sitting at the Craigieburn platform, ready to head for Flinders St.

This train is scheduled to leave at 8.28pm, but a delay on the Metro train could have forced the Pacific National train to stop before Craigieburn.

Behind the freight train, the Metro train left Roxburgh Park about 8.30pm, about two minutes after its scheduled time.

It has already been confirmed the freight train was correctly stopped at a signal when it was hit, about 8.33pm.

The Pacific National was stopped at a "home" signal, which must not be passed under any circumstances.

But the Metro driver may have passed a previous automatic signal, which he is entitled to do.

This is a procedure designed to prevent entire lines from becoming clogged because of one stopped train.

Drivers are allowed to pass these signals only if they do so with caution and at low speed.

It is believed that the Metro train, after leaving Roxburgh Park, stopped on one occasion before taking off and running into the Pacific National train.

This is consistent with one theory that the train stopped because of the automatic trip mechanism, and the driver got out of his cab to reset it before proceeding.

Metro spokesman Chris Whitefield said the driver would be on leave until the report from Public Transport Safety Victoria was finished.