Executive summary
On Wednesday 30 September 1998, Train 823 was running from Lyttelton to Ngakawau with a rake of 18 empty coal wagons. At approximately 2340 hours the train stopped on the down main adjacent to the Middleton marshalling yard (5 km west of Christchurch) and the locomotives were then detached for servicing. A few minutes after the locomotives had cut off, the wagons started moving in an easterly direction down the grade towards Christchurch. In the course of their movement the wagons crossed two protected level crossings where insufficient warning time for road traffic was provided. The safety issues identified were non-compliance with the existing rules for securing detached vehicles and the practice of leaving detached wagons on the main line.