Express freight train 938 and intercity express freight Train 919, collision, Waipahi, 20 October 1999
Status
Closed
Occurrence Date
Report Publication Date
Jurisdiction
NZ
Legacy Inquiry Number
99-122
At about 0702 hours on Wednesday, 20 October 1999 Train 938, a northbound express freight, collided with Train 919, a southbound intercity express freight, which was stationary on the main line within station limits at Waipahi on the Main South Line.
The locomotive engineer of Train 919 was fatally injured, and the locomotive engineer of Train 938 was seriously injured.
The two locomotives on Train 919 and the single locomotive on Train 938 were extensively damaged, as were a number of wagons and containers.
Causal factors included one locomotive engineer’s misunderstanding of his track warrant limit and the limited effectiveness of the action taken by the operator and the regulator to minimise the possibility of such misunderstandings.
Recommendations were made to the operator and the regulator to address the safety issues identified.
[The following paragraph was added by addendum finalised on 7 December 2001.]
Following the publication of Railway Occurrence Report 99-122 the Commission received additional information based on a new recorded departure time of Train 919 from Clinton. This strengthened some previously expressed concerns at the interpretation which could be placed on sections of the report covering actions open to the locomotive engineer of Train 919 (LE 2) on the day. The Commission considers the new information does not affect the findings and recommendations of the report, but does warrant this addendum to clarify the time restraints applicable to Train 919 and LE2.
The locomotive engineer of Train 919 was fatally injured, and the locomotive engineer of Train 938 was seriously injured.
The two locomotives on Train 919 and the single locomotive on Train 938 were extensively damaged, as were a number of wagons and containers.
Causal factors included one locomotive engineer’s misunderstanding of his track warrant limit and the limited effectiveness of the action taken by the operator and the regulator to minimise the possibility of such misunderstandings.
Recommendations were made to the operator and the regulator to address the safety issues identified.
[The following paragraph was added by addendum finalised on 7 December 2001.]
Following the publication of Railway Occurrence Report 99-122 the Commission received additional information based on a new recorded departure time of Train 919 from Clinton. This strengthened some previously expressed concerns at the interpretation which could be placed on sections of the report covering actions open to the locomotive engineer of Train 919 (LE 2) on the day. The Commission considers the new information does not affect the findings and recommendations of the report, but does warrant this addendum to clarify the time restraints applicable to Train 919 and LE2.
Location
Waipahi (-46.109046,169.239844) [may be approximate]