Two decades after Waterfall crash, train safety system yet to be completed

Two decades after the Waterfall train derailment in Sydney’s south claimed seven lives, the rollout of a safety protection system recommended by an inquiry into the accident is set to take another year to complete.

After missing a previous completion date of December 2020, the NSW transport agency says the $848 million project, which is designed to stop passenger trains from exceeding speed limits, won’t be finalised until the first half of next year.

Seven people were killed when a Tangara train derailed near Waterfall station on January 31, 2003.Credit: Andrew Meares

The installation of automatic train protection technology across the state’s suburban trains and electrified rail network has been plagued by problems since the project began in 2006. It was recommended in 2005 by an inquiry into the Waterfall train crash on January 31, 2003. The train derailed after the driver suffered a heart attack and an emergency brake failed to activate.

Transport for NSW said retrofitting automatic protection systems into an established fleet and rail network within a live operating environment had been a complex project and taken longer than initially anticipated.

The agency blamed a range of other factors for the delays, citing the pandemic, extreme weather, bushfires and disruptions to the rail network from industrial action. So far, the government has spent $839 million on the technology.

The automatic safety system is designed to prevent trains from exceeding track limits.Credit: Steven Siewert

The computerised system monitors a train’s speed and alerts the driver of a need to brake, while automatically applying the brakes if it exceeds track limits. The technology consists of on-train and trackside equipment that act independently of drivers and signallers.

The Waratah passenger trains, which form the bulk of the suburban fleet, as well as the Millenium models, have been retrofitted with the technology and are expected to be commissioned in February.

However, Tangara trains fitted with the technology have yet to be commissioned, which the transport agency anticipates will occur over a 12-month period from July.

The installation of the system on the Tangara trains – the same type which derailed at Waterfall two decades ago – was originally meant to be completed in mid-2018. A broader technology upgrade of Tangara trains to keep them in service is running at least three years’ late.

Labor transport spokeswoman Jo Haylen said it was disappointing that a critical recommendation to roll out automatic train protection had been repeatedly delayed with little explanation given to the travelling public.

Police and emergency service workers at the crash scene south of Waterfall station on January 31, 2003.Credit: Andrew Meares

“Commuter safety must be the first priority for any government and every passenger has the right to feel secure on our public transport network,” she said.

Transport Minister David Elliott said he had been closely monitoring the complex project, and he was pleased there was an end date for its completion.

“Today, on the 20th anniversary of the Waterfall train crash, our thoughts and prayers are with the families of those who were killed and injured,” he said.

The state’s decades-old K and V-set passenger trains have not been fitted with the technology because they are due to be retired within the next two years. Their retirement hinges on when a multibillion-dollar fleet of new intercity trains, which were at the centre of a protracted dispute between the government and the unions last year, are pressed into service.

Rail Tram and Bus Union state secretary Alex Claassens said it was “mind-boggling” how long it had taken to complete the rollout of the train protection system.

“It’s clear that we need to learn from these major accidents, and they need to be addressed quickly,” he said. “Twenty years to get a set of recommendations in place is pretty ordinary.”

A final report by investigators into a passenger train crash in Sydney’s northwest in 2018 found that it would likely have been prevented if an automatic train protection system had been installed. The Waratah train ploughed into a safety barrier at Richmond station, injuring 16 people.

The rollout of the automatic protection technology on track infrastructure was completed last year, and is now operational. As part of that work, more than 2600 beacons with specific data were installed along 600 kilometres of rail track.

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