Green light for train brakes after Richmond crash
A BRAKING device that experts say could have stopped last month’s Richmond train crash is finally going to be installed across the state — more than 13 years after it was first recommended after the fatal Waterfall derailment.
NSW
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A BRAKING device that experts say could have stopped last month’s Richmond train crash is finally going to be installed across the state — more than 13 years after it was first recommended after the fatal Waterfall derailment.
The Daily Telegraph can reveal Transport for NSW is about to start testing and installing an Automatic Train Protection system (ATP) across the state’s rail network, including rural areas such as the far north coast, New England and the Central Coast, as well as the city network.
The revelation comes after The Daily Telegraph revealed the state government was yet to install an ATP system despite announcing plans for such a system on “the majority” of the Sydney fleet in 2014.
ATPs are used on rail systems across the world to monitor train speeds and mitigate the likelihood of accidents caused by human error. If a train is going faster than it is meant to be at any given point it will automatically apply emergency braking.
Transport for NSW documents obtained by The Telegraph reveal the department is seeking a private company to manage the “commission and trial” of ATP across the state.
The successful company will be responsible for “the development of a detailed integration strategy to roll out and integrate ATP” with the network’s signalling system.
The documents say the “ATP Trackside Testing & Commissioning Manager” is expected to work on the project for about a year from February 26.
A Transport for NSW spokesman said there had been “significant progress” on introducing the safety system.
“Work is already under way to progressively equip our train fleet with the necessary equipment, while technology will be installed on the trackside network over the next two years during scheduled maintenance windows,” he said.
Installation of an ATP system was a key recommendation of the special commission into the deadly 2003 Waterfall crash.
Seven people were killed in one of the deadliest rail crashes in Australian history when a Tangara train derailed after the driver suffered a heart attack.
The Richmond crash, which injured 19 people last month, was the worst rail accident since Waterfall.
Rail Safety Consulting Australia director Phillip Barker said there would likely have been no serious injuries if an ATP been installed on the Waratah train that crashed into the buffer at Richmond.
“There still would have been contact (with the buffer), but it’s more likely people would have just lost their footing rather than being slammed into the walls,” said Mr Barker, a former rail safety investigator with the Australian Transport Safety Bureau.
The National Rail Safety Regulator said last year the ATP rollout was one of two Waterfall recommendations yet to be met.