Train derails at Richmond, Sydney

Crushed noses, broken arms, “ripped open’’ kneecaps: an eyewitness describes horror injuries at scene of derailment.

Rhian Deutrom, Andrew Clennell and EMILY RITCHIE

Several injured after train crash at Richmond

5 min read

10:28AMJanuary 22, 2018.

Updated 7:05PMJanuary 22, 2018

Scaffolder Brett Saunders was on his way home sick when a Sydney train he had been waiting for flew into the station seemingly without braking and crashed “sending everyone flying like superman.”

The 29-year-old had been told by a station worker when he bought his ticket home the next train was due to arrive in five minutes.

The pair then watched in surprise as a train came into view, with the staff member commenting that it was well ahead of schedule.

Mr Saunders described seeing what appeared to be a ‘runaway train’, with a male train driver at the helm.

“He was coming in fast with no brakes whatsoever and I knew something was wrong about 40 metres before the barrier,” Mr Saunders said.

Jumping out of his seat on the platform Mr Saunders, along with 10 other people, watched in horror as the train smashed into the barrier at the end of the station.

“I watched train hit the barrier then bounce up and came back down again hard,” he said.

Mr Saunders said many people who had stood up inside the carriage, in preparation to disembark, suffered the worst injuries.

“Everyone was out of their seats so as soon as the train hit the barrier they just hit the decks,” he said.

“People went flying everywhere”.

Screaming at the station staff to let the passengers out, Mr Saunders tried in vain to pry open the doors of the first carriage, which had been crushed.

“The train staff were in shock, they were just standing there and I was screaming at them to open the doors,” he said.

“There was about fifteen of us on the platform and we ran in to check if everybody was OK’’.

An injured crew member receives assistance after the Richmond derailment today. Picture: Dylan Robinson

Mr Saunders said the first carriage was carrying about 20 people inside, ten of whom walked away after a few minutes with minor injuries.

The remaining commuters weren’t so lucky.

“Four or five people couldn’t walk and tried to stumble out of the train but fell on the concrete outside,” he said.

He described hearing “a lot of crying” as the passengers began realising what had transpired.

“There was an old lady crying alone in a chair and I think she had broken her arm,” Mr Saunders said.

“She was sitting there clutching it and not talking”.

Another man (pictured on the floor with the blood) could only manage to shake his head stiffly when Mr Saunders asked if he could assist him.

“I asked him, ‘are you all right mate, do you want me to help you up?’ and he just shook his head and I didn’t want to move him because it looked like he had spinal injuries,” he said.

“He was unresponsive and looked like he was in massive shock”.

A young blonde girl was lying on the floor of the train in silence, with her knee cap completely ripped open.

Richmond derailment witness Brett Saunders, who he knew something was wrong as he watched the train come in to the station "fast''. Picture: Facebook

Blood was all over the carriage floor which Mr Saunders attributed mainly to the countless broken noses suffered during the impact.

“The train driver was the worst,” he said.

“The driver’s nose was completely crushed sideways it was the worst thing I have ever seen in my life and I’ve played a lot of football,”

“His face was smashed in as well, it looked like he may have crushed his cheekbone”.

Blood, chaos as train ‘hits wall’

More than a dozen people have been taken to hospital after a suburban Sydney train hit a railway buffer “at speed” at Richmond Station in the city’s northwest.

Witnesses say passengers and crew were “sent flying” when the train crashed at the end of the line just before 10am on Monday.

A total of 16 people — including the driver and another staff member — were treated at the scene, NSW Ambulance said.

Multiple people are being treated for injuries. Picture: Brett Saunders

Fifteen were taken to various hospitals in the area for treatment, including a 21-year-old man with a suspected broken leg.

The remaining patients suffered less serious injuries — largely back and neck pain and cuts and bruising, NSW Ambulance’s Paul Turner said in a statement. “These people are very lucky,” Supt Turner said. “It was chaos. Things could’ve been much worse.”

Three choppers and dozens of ambulance and NSW Fire & Rescue teams raced to the scene following reports of several injuries.

The impact caused some of the carriages to lift and dividers between carriages to crush, photos of the scene show.

Brett Saunders, who was on a platform at the station, said the train did not appear to brake.

“(It) crashed at full speed into the barrier sending everyone flying like superman! It was insane!” he wrote on Facebook.

One caller to Sydney’s 2GB radio who saw the crash said there was an “almighty bang”.

He said the train came in at speed and hit the buffer and rebounded. “There was a huge amount of dust,” he said.

“It’s all chaos here,” another caller, Steve, told the station.

Sydney Trains boss Howard Collins said the worst injuries sustained were minor head injuries and a suspected broken femur [thigh bone], but would not comment on whether or not the accident was a result of a driver error.

“I think it is again too early to speculate, the buffer stop did its job, the most modern train, the Waratah train did its job in absorbing the impact. We’re working with the safety regulators, that will give us the information [on the cause for the crash],” Mr Collins said.

“Reviewing the incident it looks like most of those people are minor head injuries, bumps and bruises, we are aware of one customer who may have a suspected broken femur.

“Everyone is off the train, the emergency services got there very quickly.”

Mr Collins said it was “very difficult to say” how fast the train was travelling when it went into the buffer.

“The buffer stop did provide the protection the train needed to come to a stop.”

Asked about the driver’s experience, Mr Collins said: “Theres nothing unusual I would say would be a problem as far as the train or driver is concerned.”

Mr Collins confirmed many injuries were because people were standing, waiting to get off the train.

He said that a guard and driver were involved in an incident and a trains cleaner getting off the train had suffered a head injury “but not serious” and gone to hospital.

Having satisfied himself that his “best people” were looking at the accident Mr Collins re-entered negotiations with the unions this afternoon in an attempt to stop next Monday’s planned strike.

CEO of Sydney Trains Howard Collins speaks to the media after a train derailed at Richmond. Picture: David Swift.

Transport Minister Andrew Constance said: “Our thoughts are with staff and those passengers who’ve been injured as a result of this train hitting the buffer stop, which worked.

There is now going to be three independent investigations underway taken by various workplace and rail safety regulators underway.”

Multiple people injured after a train crashes into buffers at the end of the rail line at Richmond train station. Picture: CareFlight

“This is really concerning, fortunately, it’s not something that happens every day and I don’t for a second want to underscore how serious this incident is.”

“Safety is our number one priority and we will now work to determine what caused the incident,” he said in a statement.