Early rail gates crash report released

A PRELIMINARY report into May’s train crash at the Lydiard Street rail gates has been released by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, but the investigation is still ongoing.

The report comes after the Melbourne to Wendouree service on Saturday, 30 May impacted the gates at about 11.30pm.

It found the train experienced a series of “wheel slip events” before the crash.

“Departing Ballan, the driver began to experience wheel slip events during powering and as the journey progressed, experienced instances of wheel slide during braking,” said Chris McKeown, Victoria’s chief investigator for transport safety.

According to the report the wheel slippage set off the train’s Wheel Slip/Slide Protection, or WSP, system. A device that alerts the driver that powered axles are spinning faster that than non-powered ones.

By the time the VLocity 3VL70 train was just over five kilometres from Ballarat Station it was traveling at 160kph.

The report states that when the driver began braking, warnings of wheel sliding were again received.

“On the approach to Ballarat, the driver reported having commenced braking slightly earlier than would normally be the case due to the wet and windy weather conditions,” Mr McKeown said.

However, the train was unable to stop before it reached Ballarat Station platform one.

“An emergency brake application was applied 235 metres before the train’s intended stop at Ballarat Station,” Mr McKeown said.

“The train travelled through Ballarat Station at 100kph and passed a departure signal at ‘stop’ as it headed towards the Lydiard Street North crossing.”

Just before the train hit the rail gates, which were still in the closed position, the traffic lights at the crossing flipped to amber.

The report also found that closed circuit TV footage before the crash showed three people crossed the tracks at the gates just under a minute before the train hit.

After the train hit the rail gates it travelled a further 600 meters before pulling up beyond Doveton Street North.

One person, a passenger who was standing to disembark at Ballarat Station, was taken to hospital as a result of the crash with head, back, and leg injuries.

The preliminary report is not the end of the investigation Mr McKeown said.

“The on-going investigation will examine a range of factors including operation and maintenance of VLocity sanders, track condition, dynamic performance of the braking system, train operation and performance,” he said.

Four months after the crash the Lydiard Street rail crossing remains closed to vehicular traffic following the incident.

Read the full report here.