Rail safety investigations & reports
Derailment of Ballast Train 8M24N near Broken Hill, NSW, 11 April 2012
RO-2012-004
Summary
What happened
At about 0400 (CDT) on Wednesday 11 April an ARTC ballast train 8M24N travelling on the interstate mainline between Broken Hill to Kinalung derailed at the 1118.500 km mark. The derailment was initiated by the 26th wagon as a result of a loading irregularity. The crew of the train was physically unhurt. There was minor damage to the wagon and considerable track damage over a 4 km length.
Safety message
Uneven loading of ballast wagons increases the potential of
derailment. In 2010, the Independent Transport Safety Regulator
(ITSR) released a Rail Industry Safety Notification (RISN) No. 32
on the "operation of less than safely loaded wagons". Although the
notice refers to coal trains, some of the issues raised in the RISN
are also applicable to ballast trains such as ensuring the
appropriate wagon loading configurations are in place.
To ensure wagons are evenly loaded, the rail operator's procedures
for checking the load distribution need to be followed and carried
out to the required standard.
General details
| Date: | 11 April 2012 | Investigation status: | Completed | ||
| Time: | 0400 CDT | Investigation level: | Short - click for an explanation of investigation levels | ||
| Location (show map): | near Broken Hill | ||||
| State: | New South Wales | ||||
| Release date: | 07 August 2012 | ||||
| Report status: | Final | Occurrence category: | Incident | ||
| Highest injury level: | None |
Train details
| Train registration | 8M24N | |
|---|---|---|
| Type of operation | Ballast train | |
| Damage to train | Minor | |
| Departure point | Broken Hill, NSW | |
| Destination | Kinlung, NSW |