Zanthus prang.

[mauried@commslab.gov.au (Maurie Daly)]

In light of the similarity of the Ararat accident to the Zanthus accident, I 
had a read of the independant report into the Zanthus accident.

Its available from
http://www.dot.wa.gov.au/linking/rail_safety.html

There is also an interesting Xcel spreadsheet which details a time line record 
of the prang. (also available from the same site.)



The following in an excerpt from the investigation.
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In October 1997 a risk analysis of safeworking systems was prepared
for Track Access, South Australia. In considering the Train Order
Working system in use on the South Australian portion of the Trans
Australia Railway, the report concluded that; “The primary risk factor
is the almost total reliance on the integrity of the staff using the same
(ie) the human factor …… It is the professional opinion that Train
Order Working as and where employed by Australian National has not
been considered in terms of the human element and the potential for
human error.” That report recommended that the current system be
replaced with a new system designed with human fallibility in mind.

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Of course as we know nothing happened.
The investigation into the Zanthus prang said essentially the same ,ie 
the Safeworking System was unable to cope with the human error factor.

cheers
MD