013/03

Either invoke Section 6F (1) of the Transport Services Licensing Act 1989 or, alternatively, procure changes to legislation or, alternatively, by any other process you judge suitable, ensure that the approved safety system for all operators operating on the principal lines and loops of the national rail network, includes a requirement for the use of locomotive event recording devices in any locomotive, railcar, electric multiple unit or diesel multiple unit operated on a principal line or loop , together with the facilities to extract, store and print such information within an acceptable time span for the purposes of accident or incident investigation should the need arise.

The event recorder should meet or exceed existing Kaitiaki event recorder (as used by Tranz Rail) standards of accuracy, reliability and crash worthiness and be capable of recording data relevant to the running of the vehicle for a period of 2 months, including:

· speed
· brake cylinder pressure
· brake pipe pressure
· throttle notch
· train end monitor pressure (where applicable)
· vigilance event log.

Where maintenance schedules allow, priority should be given to the fitting of event recorders to electric multiple units and diesel multiple units.

The Commission recognises the difficulty of fitting the above event recorders to steam locomotives. Such locomotives, capable of exceeding 50 km/h while being operated on the main line, should be fitted with a locomotive event recorder that meets or exceeds the existing “Orange Box” event recorder currently used by heritage operators and should record, at a minimum, the speed of the locomotive at 10 second intervals. Such data should be accessible for a period of 7 days.

The development of any upgraded version of the Orange Box recorders should give consideration to the recording of additional information such as brake cylinder pressure, throttle setting and steam boiler pressure.