Recommendation Date
Recipient Name
LTNZ
Text
(a) distribute the Commission's Report 05-125 to all heritage operators with gangway-connected rolling stock, and
(b) direct mainline heritage operators to crack test the non-alliance buffers on all their operational passengers carriages and guards' vans on an annual basis.
(b) direct mainline heritage operators to crack test the non-alliance buffers on all their operational passengers carriages and guards' vans on an annual basis.
Reply Text
Land Transport NZ could require, for instance, all mainline heritage operators to crack test all non-alliance buffers on an annual basis, if the Director of Land Transport considers this action necessary in accordance with the Railways Act 2005 Section 28. This Section states that imposing conditions on the operation of any rail vehicles must be only if the Director believes, on reasonable grounds, that the operation or use of a rail vehicle or class of rail vehicle, etc., may endanger persons or property and that prompt action is necessary to prevent this risk. At this stage Land Transport NZ is unsure if this threshold for intervention has been met.
We considered this potential risk to passengers best addressed by:
1. Distributing the Commission’s Report 05-125 to all operators with operational passenger carriages fitted with non-alliance buffers.
2. Recommending all above rail operators crack test the non-alliance buffers on all their operational passenger carriages and guards van on a periodic basis. It would be problematical for Land Transport NZ to require the testing on an annual basis without a specific risk analysis to be carried out by each operator concerned.
Land Transport NZ has decided not to implement the above safety recommendation; however on receipt of your final report we will bring this matter to the individual attention of rail operators concerned as detailed in (1) & (2) above.
Land Transport NZ will continue to monitor this issue through the regulatory assessment process on a regular basis.
We considered this potential risk to passengers best addressed by:
1. Distributing the Commission’s Report 05-125 to all operators with operational passenger carriages fitted with non-alliance buffers.
2. Recommending all above rail operators crack test the non-alliance buffers on all their operational passenger carriages and guards van on a periodic basis. It would be problematical for Land Transport NZ to require the testing on an annual basis without a specific risk analysis to be carried out by each operator concerned.
Land Transport NZ has decided not to implement the above safety recommendation; however on receipt of your final report we will bring this matter to the individual attention of rail operators concerned as detailed in (1) & (2) above.
Land Transport NZ will continue to monitor this issue through the regulatory assessment process on a regular basis.
Related Investigation(s)