Executive summary
On Monday 7 March 2005 at about 1651, the Wellington to Auckland Overlander passenger express Train 200 departed from Taumarunui and entered the section ahead. At about 1658 the locomotive engineer was required to stop his train when he became aware of a hi-rail vehicle on the track in front of him.
The hi-rail vehicle operator had been given authority to travel by rail from Owhango to Signal 4R at Okahukura. However he off-tracked en route and travelled part of the journey by road. Unknown to the hi-rail vehicle operator he overtook Train 200 at Taumarunui and when he on-tracked at a level crossing north of Taumarunui, he did so in front of Train 200.
Safety issues identified were:
· the speed of the hi-rail vehicle while on-track between Owhango and Manunui
· the rules relating to off-tracking a hi-rail vehicle within an authorised track occupation.
One safety recommendation was made to the Chief Executive of ONTRACK.
Related Recommendations
reinforce with track users that they request relevant train movement information from the train controller when seeking on-track authorisation, where this information would assist them with the planning of their track occupation.