Re: Beresfield Accident Findings

[Bob <gioia@fastlink.com.au>]

Bob wrote:

> Here is sa summery of the official report into the accident:
> 1) The train crew failed to comply with safety and signal warnings
> before the crash.
> 2) The train crew was suffering from work related fatigue due to sleep
> deprivation induced by their shift patterns.
> 3) The trains safety control system did not adequately protect against
> reduced driver alertness and needs improving.
> 4) Defences to protect the train from human error had not been
> established or were inadequate.
> 5) The system was entirely dependant on the train crew observing and
> responding to signals.
> 6) A fatigue management program for train crews should be considered.
> 7) There was a lack of specific operating preceedures for train crews.
> 8)Permanent crew pairings are not recommended.
> 9) Ineffective radio communications contributed and could be improved by
> the use of global positioning systems.
> 10) Conscern was raised that rail "incidents" are being under reported.
> 11) Better reporting systems are needed to identify human and system
> weaknesses.
>
> The Governments reply to the report is as follows:
>
> B) A new radio system is to be installed in NSW trains to enable
> communication with train controllers.

Which radio system will they use this week? Freightcorps radio system is
totally incompatible with the Cityrail radio system. As both Cityrail and
Freightcorp trains share common track in NSW how can this be allowed? If an
out of control Freightcorp train was heading towards a Cityrail train the
two drivers would not have direct communication. The new system being
refered to above is the GPS system that has been on the go for at least one
year and is required for the train order working out west. This has nothing
to do with the crash but to the uneducated it would seem that Freightcorp is
fixing the problems that caused the crash. I hear that a bright spark came
up with the idea of using the GPS radio as a way of applying the emergency
brake but guess what? We have the elcheapo GPS with nofrills and it can't be
done! Oh well, back to the drawing board.
Bob