On 12 September 2012 Genesee & Wyoming Australia Pty Ltd
(GWA) provided the following update in relation to safety issues
identified in the final report.
4.1.1 Policies, procedures and training
Safety issue
GWA policies, procedures and training had little
if any guidance for employees quantifying the duration,
consequential dangers and responses to severe weather events.
Action proposed by Genesee & Wyoming
Australia Pty Ltd
GWA has now developed its own Extreme Weather
Monitoring and Warning procedure (RS-PRC-072) which replaces the
FreightLink procedure FL-PRO-06-010E. The new procedure details a
range of organisational responses aligned to specified weather
trigger events and reflects learnings from the Edith River Bridge
derailment. GWA has also reviewed its Cyclone Response Plan
(RS-PRC-017) in conjunction with Network Users, once again with the
aim of incorporating learnings from the derailment into the
document.
An awareness package has been developed for delivery to all GWA
train crews which details the recommended action to be taken in
response to flooded track, storms, extreme wind events and line
side fires. The package will be rolled out prior to the start of
the Monsoon season and will also be delivered to Transport
Controllers, operational staff, track inspectors and members of
senior management involved in the decision-making process.
4.1.2 Monitoring of severe weather and flood
events
Safety issue
The warning systems in place to alert GWA staff
as to the severity of a flood event at the Edith River Rail Bridge
were ineffective.
Action proposed by Genesee & Wyoming
Australia Pty Ltd
GWA is reviewing the risk profile of the
Tarcoola-Darwin railway relative to its structures and local
hydrology with the aim of focussing attention and mitigating
strategies against future flood events to potential high risk
locations.
At the same time, GWA has engaged a specialist
weather monitoring service which will provide the organisation with
advance warning of potential extreme weather events relative to the
railway network. The alerts are aligned to the GWA Extreme Weather
Monitoring and Warning procedure and will be promulgated to
Transport Control and other operational decision-makers.
GWA is also working on a commercial agreement
with NRETAS to access warnings from twenty (20) existing stream
flow detectors adjacent to the railway corridor. These detectors
provide live data on rising water levels in catchment areas in the
Northern Territory. By adding its own warning thresholds to the
existing NRETAS infrastructure, GWA will be able to receive
notification about rising water levels at each of the catchment
areas. This work will be completed by late September 2012.
Lastly, GWA is installing stream flow detectors at six (6) major
bridges (as defined by ADrail and having a 30 metre span) north of
Katherine. The system consists of a detection unit, communication
modem and two aspect signals. The position of these signals has
been established in consultation with train crews to achieve a
sighting distance approaching 2.5 km from the bridges. The unit
will detect when water levels are about to reach the ‘top of
formation’ and will provide an alert to both train control and
train crews. This technology has been successfully implemented in
the Pilbara region recently. At an estimated cost of $1.5 million,
installations at all six (6) sites will be complete by November
2012.
