Executive summary
This report examines 3 derailments due to washouts and slips (occurrences 02-101, 02-102 and 02-103) caused by inclement weather in the South Island during January 2002. No serious injuries were sustained but the opportunity existed in each case for more serious and potentially life threatening injuries to have occurred.
Safety issues identified by these incidents included:
• the lack of a formalised early warning river flow level notification process for the Rangitata River
• the lack of staff available to respond to operating contingencies during the holiday period
• the lack of adequate relief arrangements to cover track staff annual leave programmes
• the lack of a defined process for implementing special track inspections during inclement weather
• the length of time between special track inspections and the arrival of the first train
Three safety recommendations were made to the operator to address these safety issues.
Related Recommendations
Take immediate steps to institute an inspection/protection regime at the south abutment of Bridge 57 over the Rangitata River which: • recognises the current lack of designed engineering works to protect against relatively low return period floods; • recognises the vulnerability of the protective work and the rail embankment to both full flow and falling river levels; • is linked to the river flow gauge at the Rangitata Gorge to give advance warnings; requires either: – patrols immediately ahead of all trains during and immediately following defined river flows; or
Include within existing special track inspection procedures a requirement that such inspections are carried out immediately before the passage of the next train through the affected area.
Introduce procedures into the leave programmes for track staff, including length gangers and track maintainers, to ensure adequate qualified staff remain on duty or on call to meet operating contingencies during holiday periods and that the names of such staff are advised to train control.