TRAIN DERAILMENTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19762, 8 October 1927, Page 10

TRAIN DERAILMENTS.

Another instance of a railway waggon leaving the rails occurred yesterday. Fortunately it was of a minor nature. It occurred in the railway yard and no more than a postal van was involved. Small though its individual importance, this incident again suggests that the Railway Department should say what it is doing about the steadily-increasing series of mishaps of this nature. About the middle of last month, when several goods vans attached to a mixed train left the rails at Mahia, near Manurewa, it was noted that this was one of a series of nine similar happenings since the beginning of the year, and that in only one was there record of inquiry to determine the cause. Before the end of the month there had been two jnore. The first was self-explanatory ; a wandering bullock was responsible for it. The second, which occurred near Marton, resulted in considerable damage to the permanent way [ and delayed the express trains, had no such obvious cause. The accumulation of instances certainly demands an explanation, together with some indication of precautions being taken to meet the situation. It is very fortunate that up to the present no serious consequences have followed any of these accidents, but to suggest that this happy outcome cannot continue indefinitely is not to be an alarmist. The number is high, and they have occurred on widelyseparated portions of the system. It is more than time that the Railway Department began to deal with the position energetically, and told the public exactly what was being done.