NSW: Freight train off rails in southern NSW

AAP General News (Australia)
12-23-1999
NSW: Freight train off rails in southern NSW

By Graeme Webber

SYDNEY, Dec 23 AAP - A freight train derailment in which boxcars were dumped onto a
station platform in southern New South Wales today was probably caused when cargo shifted
and struck a signal tower.

The derailment at Junee today brings the total number of rail incidents to six for
the month of December and four separate safety reviews have been called to look into the
state's rail system.

The incidents include the tragic Blue Mountains train crash which killed seven people.

Five carriages from the Melbourne-bound National Rail freight train tumbled around
the Junee Railway Station platform about 8am (AEDT) after travelling 1,000km from Brisbane
without incident.

First reports from safety experts on the scene indicated a shift in the load caused
the accident, a spokeswoman for Transport Minister Carl Scully said.

"The initial information from the safety experts who are out there [at Junee] now is
it's most likely caused by the load on the train moving and hitting a couple of gantries
and that then took the train off the rails," she said.

"It doesn't appear the infrastructure played a role in the accident."

National Rail's chief operations officer John Fullerton said today "we don't know what's
gone wrong on the journey".

"We are still trying to assess why it has moved and come far enough out to strike that
signalling gantry then become totally dislodged to land on the platform," Mr Fullerton
said.

Trains were rerouted on another track to keep the main southern line open but cranes
were still clearing the wreckage late this afternoon.

The loose boxcar, containing empty aluminium soft drink cans, started a chain reaction
and was just two carriages in front of a wagon containing dangerous goods but no-one was
harmed.

Mr Fullerton was unable to say what was inside the wagon's chemical cylinder but he
was confident the dangerous goods were "low grade".

Mr Fullerton estimated the 39-container train was travelling at about 10 kph to 15
kph because the train had just stopped to replace crew at Junee.

The NSW Transport Minister's spokeswoman agreed the recent spate of railway problems
was "unusual".

But she said the causes of recent safety scares could be varied and unrelated to the
Glenbrook tragedy.

The spokeswoman said the government was assisting with the independent Glenbrook inquiry
but had already commissioned its own safety reviews.

In 1999/2000, the NSW government spent $467 million on maintenance and $162 million
on special projects which Mr Scully's office says compared well with previous budgets
of the Labor and coalition governments.

She said less than 1 per cent of track required speed restrictions in contrast with
27.4 per cent of slow speed track in Victoria.

"We believe we haven't at all compromised maintenance," she said.

AAP gmw/sb/jnb

KEYWORD: TRAIN NIGHTLEAD

1999 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.