Opposition Statement: Derailed maintenance program leaves trains off track

[ozbob]

http://www.fionasimpson.com.au/Pages/Article.aspx?ID=621

Derailed maintenance program leaves trains off track

Friday, 4 December 2009

The equivalent of three trains a month derailed in the past year, raising serious questions about the maintenance of Queensland's railways, the Opposition said today.

LNP Shadow Minister for Transport and Main Roads Fiona Simpson said questioning in parliament had showed that there had been 36 derailments in the past 12 months*, including three Citytrain derailments.

"Three times in the past 12 months suburban passenger trains have run off the track.

"While two of these incidents, one at Central Station and another at Beenleigh Station, are still under investigation, the third derailment at Eagle Junction was the result of the train failing to stop at a signal.

"It is very lucky that no-one was seriously injured when these trains derailed."

Ms Simpson said the number of derailments caused by rollingstock and track faults in the past three years indicated that the Bligh Labor Government had failed to maintain and properly manage Queensland's rail network.

"Of the finalised investigations 43 per cent of the derailments were found to have been caused by track faults, while 18.9 per cent were the result of rollingstock failures.

"A lack of maintenance is literally running trains off the rails.

"The majority of derailments affected the freight network, costing companies millions of dollars in delays.

"The Minister must be responsible for this and ensure Queensland rail maintenance program gets back on track."

Ms Simpson said the Question on Notice response inexplicitly did not include incidents such as the fatal collisions involving the Sunlander at Mundoo on January 1, 2009 and the Tilt train accident at Rungoo on November 27, 2008.

*Source - QON 1586 - Derailments occurring between Dec 2008 and Dec 2009

[ozbob]

This statement has reminded me of this little misadventure ...

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