The ATSB has found that insufficient train braking and inadequate warning distance contributed to a collision between a track mounted excavator and a freight train at Inverleigh, Victoria on 25 September 2006.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau investigation established that the collision occurred because the train driver's initial brake applications approaching the work site were too little too late and that the outer flag person protecting the worksite was not positioned far enough away from the site given the anticipated train traffic, the line speed and the descending gradient.
The ATSB concluded that 'in these circumstances there was an unacceptably high risk of a collision'.
The ATSB report makes recommendations to the train operator and the track manager with the aim of protecting track-work sites from similar accidents.
Copies of the report can be downloaded from the ATSB's internet site at www.atsb.gov.au