PUBLIC ALARMED

Auckland Star, Volume LXIII, Issue 140, 15 June 1932, Page 7

PUBLIC ALARMED

TRAIN DERAILMENT.

SLEEPERS ON LINES.

Deliberate Sabotage Attempts In N.S.W. EXPRESS ESCAPES NARROWLY. (United P.A.-Electric Telegraph-Copyright) ' (Received 10 a.m.) SYDNEY, this day. Two deliberate attempts were made to wreck trains at a lonely spot near Wingham. Crowded with passengers, the North Coast mail express struck several sleepers placed across the lines and soon afterwards patrol linesmen found four sleepers replaced on the line to derail the local passenger train.

Police and railway detectives are concerned at the number of attempts which have been made to derail trains in the metropolitan area during the last month. The North Coast mail was travelling fast when the engine struck the sleepers and carried them several hundred yards before the train could be stopped. A serious accident could easily have happened as the locality is rugged, with deep cuttings.

On the night of June 1, and on three subsequent nights, deliberate attempts were made to wreck trains on three different suburban lines. Jn each case the driver prevented serious accidents. The police stated that they were convinced that a gang of men was responsible. Three trucks were derailed at Hurstville, but on the other two occasions the trains were stopped before they crashed into obstacles on the line.