Recommendation Date
Recipient Name
NZ Railways Corporation
Text
install a protection device on the Onehunga industrial line near Owen’s Siding to prevent uncontrolled wagon movements in a westerly direction beyond that point.
Reply Text
At present the Industrial Line is regarded as a part of Penrose Station Limits, and therefore, shunting staff may have less inclination to treat it as a main line. It is proposed to clarify, and properly document, the status of the Industrial Line by the reissue of the S & I diagram to separate the Industrial Line out from Penrose Station Limits. The Industrial Line would be shown as part of the "Controlled Network", thus reinforcing its status as a "Main Line".
The following would then apply:
· Permission to enter the Industrial Line would be required from the Train Control Officer (TCO)
· The Working Timetable (WTT) instructions would ban wagons being left unattended on the main line.
· An “All Trains Stop Board” would be erected just past Owens Siding, defining the limits for normal Industrial Line operations. Permission for trains to operate past this point will require the issue of a Special Bulletin.
· The derailing block currently installed on the west end of loop by Owens Siding, protecting the main line would be shown on the S & I diagram, with a special instruction specifying that it must be left locked in the derailing position at all times, and only opened when a train movement is entering or exiting the loop at the west end.
It is considered that the above steps will provide adequate operational and documented safeguards to minimize the risk of future runaways, without resorting to the non-standard solution of providing a derailing block on a main line. Note that installation of derailing blocks on the main line have historically caused operational problems.
If subsequent experience shows that these arrangements do not result in the require compliance to procedures, NZRC will then reconsider the need for a derailing block, or other protection mechanisms, to prevent runaway wagons form passing over Mays Road Level Crossing and continuing further down the Industrial Line.
The following would then apply:
· Permission to enter the Industrial Line would be required from the Train Control Officer (TCO)
· The Working Timetable (WTT) instructions would ban wagons being left unattended on the main line.
· An “All Trains Stop Board” would be erected just past Owens Siding, defining the limits for normal Industrial Line operations. Permission for trains to operate past this point will require the issue of a Special Bulletin.
· The derailing block currently installed on the west end of loop by Owens Siding, protecting the main line would be shown on the S & I diagram, with a special instruction specifying that it must be left locked in the derailing position at all times, and only opened when a train movement is entering or exiting the loop at the west end.
It is considered that the above steps will provide adequate operational and documented safeguards to minimize the risk of future runaways, without resorting to the non-standard solution of providing a derailing block on a main line. Note that installation of derailing blocks on the main line have historically caused operational problems.
If subsequent experience shows that these arrangements do not result in the require compliance to procedures, NZRC will then reconsider the need for a derailing block, or other protection mechanisms, to prevent runaway wagons form passing over Mays Road Level Crossing and continuing further down the Industrial Line.
Related Investigation(s)