A passenger train sped at four times the limit through a section of track in Sydney’s west, throwing the driver from his seat, in a near miss at a spot which had earlier been deemed a high risk and in need of a safety fix.
An investigation into the serious incident involving a Waratah train found the driver was “not situationally aware”, failing to slow as he approached signals ahead of a so-called turnout, which allows trains to cross from one track to another.
The suburban train was travelling from Penrith to Central Station on April 21, 2024, when it crossed the turnout near Blacktown station. It was one of 16 reported over-speed incidents through turnouts on Sydney Trains’ network between January 2019 and March last year.
The section of track where the incident occurred was among several spots identified four years earlier by a project led by Transport for NSW as having a “not tolerable” risk of overspeed and derailment.
Despite this, the investigation discovered the scope of the project to install automatic train protection technology at the troubled spots on the rail network had been downgraded.
A report by the Office of Transport Safety Investigations (OTSI) found Sydney Trains failed to have “effective controls” for overspeeding on parts of the rail network where high-risk turnouts had been identified.
The experienced driver of the double-deck passenger train was thrown from his seat by the force of it travelling at 101km/h through the turnout, which had a speed limit of 25km/h.
He let go of both the train controls and a safety device as he was thrown from his seat. It triggered an emergency brake which slowed the train, allowing the driver to return to his seat and reset the safety device six seconds later.
The driver suffered minor injuries, while there were no reports of injuries to passengers or the train’s guard.
The report found the driver was familiar with taking a different route and did not expect to go through the turnout, which meant that he was not “situationally aware” as he approached it.
Shortly after the near miss, the national rail safety regulator issued Sydney Trains an improvement notice to resolve the risk of trains speeding through turnouts.
Following the incident, the rail operator lowered speed limits at high-risk locations, including the turnout at Blacktown, and developed a plan to roll out automatic train protection at the trouble spots.
OTSI chief investigator Jim Modrouvanos said overspeed incidents carried a high risk of train rollover and the potential for multiple fatalities.
“The overspeed risk controls should be reviewed regularly to make sure they are still effective, and to see if there are any practical ways to further reduce or eliminate risk,” he said.
An XPT passenger train travelling from Sydney to Melbourne derailed at Wallan in Victoria in February 2020 when it entered a turnout – which was designed for speeds of 15km/h – at up to 127km/h.
Two drivers were killed, and eight passengers seriously injured in the crash.
Sydney Trains said it accepted the latest report’s full recommendations and continued to work with the national rail safety regulator to remove the risk related to over-speed incidents.
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Matt O’Sullivan is transport and infrastructure editor at The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via X or email.