On Monday 18 November 2002, a hi-rail vehicle overran its track authority from Westmere Intermediate Board to Symes Road Intermediate Board on the Marton-New Plymouth Line and continued a further 28.3 km to Brewer Road Intermediate Board.
The operator of the hi-rail vehicle had intended to proceed to Brewer Road but mistakenly made reference to Symes Road when seeking authority from the train controller.
There was no conflicting track occupancy between Symes Road Intermediate Board and Brewer Road Intermediate Board.
The safety issues identified were:
· the standardisation of language to describe physical locations
· the use of On Track Time Tracker forms or other means to record details of the authorised track occupancy as a defence against overrunning the limits of the authority.
In view of the safety actions with regard to track occupancy procedures taken by the Tranz Rail, no safety recommendation has been made.
