Reason Gawler train abruptly stopped 200m from Adelaide station revealed

The reason the newly electrified Gawler line – which has only just opened after years of delay – stopped abruptly last week has been revealed.

Human error, not electrical or mechanical failure, caused a train to abruptly stop on the recently opened electrified line from Adelaide to Gawler.

Passengers had to disembark or wait for an hour when the driver of a train stopped about 200m short of the Adelaide Railway Station last Tuesday morning.

The train was in the wrong spot, which caused the automatic safety system to shut down the train.

Trains using the new electrified line have computerised systems, which can take control of the trains in emergencies, similar to autopilot systems on aircraft and black box recorders to track journeys.

Sensors alongside the tracks also monitor the trains while internal and external cameras take continuous recordings.

If the sensors pick up any abnormal activity, such as an explained stop, the automated system and can take over by either shutting down the engine or braking — which is what happened last Tuesday.

Passengers were forced to jump to safety when a train on the Gawler line stopped abruptly. Picture: Supplied

Infrastructure and Transport Department chief executive John Whelan told a parliamentary hearing on Monday it was “important to note that this was an operator error, or human error”.

“The rail safety measures that are in place on our trains went into action,” he said.

“We call it automatic train protection. Because the driver was in the wrong spot, it put the brakes on the train. Unfortunately, that was a couple of hundred metres from the platform.”

Mr Whelan praised staff for how they kept passengers informed during the incident.

Unfortunately, we had to disembark them but I must be very proud of the people who were able to get everybody safely off the train,” he said.

Mr Whelan said the incident was being reviewed by the private operators of Adelaide’s train network, Keolis Downer.

The Advertiser reported about 300 passengers had to evacuate the Adelaide-bound Gawler train and another one on the Seaford line.

The incident began at 9am, and was initially described on Tuesday as an “operational power supply issue”.

A Transport Department spokesman said while the problem was quickly resolved, it caused delays on the Belair, Seaford and Flinders lines until services resumed about 12.40pm.

Passengers took video of the evacuations and can be heard criticising the network as they leave the train.

The Gawler line reopened in June for the first time since December 2020 – the project to electrify the line has been beset with funding problems and delays since it was first announced in 2008.

Mr Whelan said patronage had been healthy since the line re-opened, unlike other public transport routes across metropolitan and outer Adelaide, which still were experiencing useage around 40 per cent below pre-pandemic levels.