Sam Meintanis named second victim of fatal Wallan train derailment
The second victim of the fatal Wallan train derailment has been identified as Sam Meintanis, whose family have remembered him as a “beautiful soul” who “lived life to the full”. It comes as work continues to clear the scene, days after the crash tragedy.
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The second victim of last week’s train crash in Wallan has been named as Sam Meintanis.
Mr Meintanis worked for Programmed, a provider of operations and maintenance services across Australia and New Zealand.
“Tragically, Sam Meintanis, a track protection officer with Programmed, lost his life in the rail incident near Wallan on Thursday evening,” a spokesman for the company said.
“Sam was a popular, experienced and capable member of our team, having worked with Programmed and our division, Skilled Rail Services over the past 14 years.
“We are working with all relevant authorities to help understand the details of the incident and supporting Sam’s family during this devastating time. Support is also being provided to Programmed staff.”
In a statement on Wednesday night, Mr Meintanis’ family said: “Sam was a beautiful soul who loved and lived life to the full.
“He made sure those around him were safe, happy and well cared for, which carried through in everything he did.
“He was the rock of our family, always ready to support and advise with compassion, stability and a positive outlook.
“Family was everything to him.
“As he guided us through all situations no problem was too great even in our/his darkest moments.
“With him, our life was happy, loving and fun.
“He made us all laugh out loud with his storytelling and continuous funny and positive outlook on life.
“Everyone who knew Sam loved and admired him and saw him as a strong and trusted leader. “He was our spartan king.”
Differing rules between rail carriers has emerged as a key issue in the inquiry into the fatal derailment of the XPT Sydney-Melbourne train.
The Australian Rail Track Corporation has taken control of the crash site, bringing in cranes and other equipment to clear the carriages and begin repairs.
Driver John Kennedy was also killed in the crash.
He has been remembered by his family as having “a heart of gold”.
The family of the 54-year-old train driver issued a statement.
“It is hard to find the right words to describe the overwhelming sense of loss we have,” they wrote.
“To try and sum John up in a few words, would be a gross misrepresentation of how great a husband, father, grandfather, mate and bloke he was.”
They described him as a man who lit up the rooms who walked into, and left “everlasting” impressions on everyone he met.
“He had a heart of gold and nothing was too hard when it came to helping others. John had a quirky personality like no other and a personality larger than life.
“His passion was trains, he showed this in his work ethic, passion and dedication to the railway. Joining the railway at the age of 14, his love for the rail never changed, if anything it just grew stronger.
“John enjoyed travelling, cricket, fishing and a good billy tea, but the biggest love of all was his wife and his ever-growing family.
“His family and his railway family have suffered a massive loss through this tragedy and he will be forever missed and never forgotten.”
The train drivers’ union said doubts remained about speed restrictions on the line, which had been affected earlier by a signal box fire.
Rail Tram and Bus Union Victoria secretary Luba Grigorovitch said that if the ARTC imposed the same speed restrictions as were applied by Melbourne Metro and V/Line “the incident may have been avoided”.
“We need some commonality between the different carriers, whether it be Metro, V/Line and also ARTC,” Ms Grigorovitch said.
“To be changing the rules for each company I don’t think is good enough.”
The circumstances around an order diverting the train to a passing loop line will also be central to the official inquiry.
On Thursday, ARTC moved trains from the main line to the loop line.
Ms Grigorovitch would not comment on whether the pilot was aware of the line change and slower speed limit, and if the driver had been told.
Many drivers described the section under investigation as bumpy and called it a “goat track”, she said.
“I’m told a number of drivers did not want to drive along these tracks from V/Line and that they were given different routes. They believed the track condition was not what it needed to be.”
Three cranes would be used for the complex clean-up effort, an ARTC spokesman said.
“Equipment including sleepers, rail and signalling equipment will be delivered to the site to repair the rail infrastructure once the XPT is removed.”
Transport Infrastructure Minister Jacinta Allan said she would not speculate whether live signal testing was being done at the time of the crash.
“The most important thing is to let the investigation take its course,” she said.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau and the Office of the National Rail Safety Regulator are investigating.
Asked if the government would review the state of regional rail tracks, Ms Allan said it would wait for the derailment report.
“V/Line and the ARTC are working together to do some site investigations and reviews in order to return trains to that corridor in a safe way,” she said.
Services will be disrupted while the repairs are done.
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— With Tamsin Rose