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KiwiRail / Supplied
A near collision between two passenger trains at Wellington Station in November 2019 was found to have been caused when a driver was distracted by a radio call, causing a red light to run.
Urgent safety improvements are needed at Wellington train station, says the Transportation Accident Investigation Commission, after an inexperienced train conductor narrowly avoided a collision with an oncoming train last year.
The near miss followed another in 2016, while there were also 23 incidents of trains failing to stop at a red light when approaching or exiting Wellington Station in the past decade, the Commission said in a report released Monday.
“Drivers must prioritize their focus on the most important issues at any given time,” he concluded. “Key areas of the Wellington rail network present a higher risk than others and therefore require more caution and concentration on the part of train drivers.”
An outbound Melling train entered a section of track already occupied by an incoming Waikanae train on November 6 last year, after the Melling-bound driver was distracted by a radio call, causing them to miss a red light and advance toward the oncoming train. Both drivers realized they were on a collision course and stopped with less than 32 meters to go.
Excessive speed was not a contributing factor to the incident, a spokesperson said. The speed limit in the area is 20 km / h.
No one was injured, but the mistake caused long delays and surprised passengers. “Once we saw how close the other train was, it felt quite unsettling,” said one at the time.
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The commission said KiwiRail had also failed to comply with all the recommendations made three years ago, after the 2016 incident, to reduce the risk of collision in the congested access to Wellington station after a similar incident, and this contributed to the last close collision.
While Kiwirail had installed automatic brakes at some red light signals around the station, as recommended above, it had not done so at the red light where the driver did not stop. The risk of collision will remain “high” until further improvements are made, the commission said.
The report also revealed that in January 2019, the Waka Kotahi NZ Transportation Agency became so concerned about the risk of collision that it told Kiwirail and the train operator Transdev that no more services could be added in and out of the station. Wellington at rush hour without an additional security sign. -off.
Monday’s report indicated that Wellington’s roads remained congested, increasing the risk of a collision.
He also noted that the departing train conductor was relatively inexperienced, with just over three weeks driving alone under his belt. They had recently completed an eight-month commuter train driving course.
TAIC / Supplied
An aerial view of the location where the Wellington Station incident occurred.
The safety measures in place were not sufficient to reduce the risk of collision as much as possible.
After the 2016 near miss, which identified that there was nothing to stop a train passing the red stop signal in case a driver failed to react correctly, the commission recommended KiwiRail do everything possible to “reduce the risk of train operations in the area can even make a more suitable long-term solution ”.
That recommendation still stood, as there were still no engineering controls to avoid a collision if a train passed the signal, he said.
The Secretary General of the Union of Rail and Maritime Transport, Wayne Butson, supported the 2017 recommendations and asked KiwiRail to install train stops on the signals to activate the train brakes in such situations.
KiwiRail COO Todd Moyle said the state company accepted that the incident was significant.
“It highlights the difficulties we face in the Wellington station area. It contains a large amount of signals in a small space and is also used by all commuter trains that operate on the Wellington rail network, ”he said. “The operation of trains in this area is safe, but we are taking steps to further reduce the risk.”
Since the 2017 report, KiwiRail has been working to improve security at the Wellington station, he said, and plans are underway to update the rail network signals.
