RO-1997-109

On Wednesday 30 July 1997, at about 0952 hours, an express freight train operated by Tranz Rail Limited derailed when it entered a crossover at the south end of Te Kauwhata while travelling too fast. The locomotive and all seven wagons in the train were derailed, with substantial damage to all vehicles and the track. The locomotive engineer suffered a serious injury. The locomotive engineer had incorrectly interpreted a signal aspect and failed to slow the train for passage through the crossover. A safety issue identified in this report is the potential for locomotive engineers to misinterpret medium speed indications on closely spaced signals where only one signal predominantly displays this aspect.