Executive summary
On Wednesday 30 July 1997, at about 0952 hours, an express freight train operated by Tranz Rail Limited derailed when it entered a crossover at the south end of Te Kauwhata while travelling too fast. The locomotive and all seven wagons in the train were derailed, with substantial damage to all vehicles and the track. The locomotive engineer suffered a serious injury. The locomotive engineer had incorrectly interpreted a signal aspect and failed to slow the train for passage through the crossover. A safety issue identified in this report is the potential for locomotive engineers to misinterpret medium speed indications on closely spaced signals where only one signal predominantly displays this aspect.
Related Recommendations
Take appropriate action to reduce the possibility of similar incidents occurring at any other localities where adjacent signals capable of giving medium speed indications under similar routing patterns could lead to similar misunderstandings.
Take action to restrict movements through the crossover at the south end of Te Kauwhata, such that signal 59006 is not required to give a medium speed indication for a routing to the loop.