Zanthus train collision
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Zanthus is a crossing loop on the Perth to Sydney Trans-Australian Railway. It is located in the Nullarbor region.
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[edit] Accident
On August 18, 1999, an eastbound freight train was waiting at the departure end of the crossing loop for the westbound Indian Pacific passenger train to pass through.
The second engineman was waiting at the control panel for the turnout for the opposing train to pass through.
Out of habit he had the control panel box unlocked and opened.
Unfortunately, out of habit, he pressed the button to operate the turnout at an inappropriate time, and the opposing train was diverted at a speed of about 40 km/h into the loop where it could not stop in time to avoid a head-on collision.
[edit] Injuries and damage
Twenty-one passengers and crew from the Indian Pacific were airlifted by the Royal Flying Doctor Service to Kalgoorlie Hospital from the remote Coonana airstrip, 40 km from the crash site. Only two passengers were admitted for overnight observations. Westrail provided two Prospector railcars to transfer the remainder of the passengers back to Kalgoorlie.
All nineteen coaches of the Indian Pacific received varying degrees of damage, from minor internal damage to the write off of luggage/smoking car HM 311. The wreck of the carriage is still onsite at Zanthus [1]. At the time, Great Southern Railways estimated the damage to the coaches to be of the value of A$5 million dollars. National Rail Corporation estimated the damage to locomotives NR15 and NR51 at around A$1 million dollars.
[edit] Aftermath
Since the accident, the operation of the turnout has been altered so that the point indicator lights will not operate until the access process is completed,[1] and this gives all trains time to stop at the red point indicator lights.
- The simplified overview of process is:
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- access box - 120-180 second delay all line points are/change to red
- door opens
- 60-90 second delay until point control inputs are accepted, points can then be changed.
- close door/seal box, lights are changed to indicate point positions.
- All traffic then proceeds as directed.
This accident happened because the points were not fully interlocked, and were merely a kind of power-assisted hand lever.
[edit] Similar accidents
At least one "out of habit" accident occurred in the United States at a similar crossing loop.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
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