Safety implications of remote control of trains

Although there were no previous accidents attributable to TasRail’s use of remote control equipment (RCE) over 19 years, TasRail did not identify or fully assess the safety implications of remotely-controlled train operations, or those of TasRail’s specific implementation. These included the:

• potential for remote control equipment to fail to an unsafe state without external risk controls
• suppression or absence of some safety functions of the TR class locomotive, including overspeed protection and some indications provided to drivers
• non-recording of key data parameters to facilitate effective fault and incident analysis
• increased risk of derailment as a result of motive power located only at the rear of the train.

TasRail advised that it had withdrawn all remote-control technology. The withdrawal of all remote-control technology negates the need for safety action to directly address each aspect of the safety issue, including the need to record additional data parameters beyond those recorded by existing systems on the TR class locomotives. Accordingly, the safety issue is no longer relevant.