Shunt engine on wrong track in fatal crash

Press, 26 March 1980, Page 1

Shunt engine on wrong track in fatal crash

PA Wellington Railways officials have confirmed that the shunting engine involved in the fatal train crash at Wellington on Monday was heading in the wrong direction on a track it should not have been on.. The driver of the 6.58 a.m. passenger unit from Porirua has been cleared of responsibility for Monday’s fatal crash and is to be allowed to continue normal duties. The General Manager of Railways (Mr T. M. Hay-

ward) has withdrawn the two drivers of shunting engine 257 from driving work until the result of the public inquiry is known. The clearance of the passenger unit’s driver to continue work came after a Railways investigation into the cause of the crash. Railways officials have found that the driver of the passenger unit was proceeding under a red and green signal towards his allocated platform as directed by train control. The passenger train was

on its correct track, on tracks set aside exclusively for trains arriving at Wellington station. The decision to allow the passenger unit driver to continue work was made after extensive interviewing of passengers and witnesses who have confirmed the light sequence. The national secretary of the Locomotive Engine Drivers’ Association (Mr R. Williams) said that the withdrawal of the shunting engine drivers from duty was not an indication of responsibility for; the crash.

It was normal procedure for drivers to be withdrawn after such incidents if there was uncertainty as to the cause. Mr Williams said he could not comment on the possible cause of the crash but said that sunlight sometimes led drivers to believe they had a green light when they had a red. This had happened five times this year in Christchurch. No explanation was available yesterday as to why the shunting engine was on a track set aside for southbound trains only. The police have set up a team of 12 under Detective Senior-Sergeant H. M. V. Burgess to investigate the crash. A similar police inquiry into the October 17 railway crash in which 44 people were injured resulted in the driver of a unit being charged with criminal negligence. Only one of the 12 train crash victims admitted to Wellington Hospital remains in a serious condition. He is Vaa Papal!, aged 14, who is in a serious but stable condition in the intensive-care unit.

Wellington Hospital treated 77 train crash victims on Monday.