The Zig Zag railway has faced a number of hurdles over the past 4 years, with regulatory issues, bush fires and floods.
On 2 December the ATSB held a workshop at this well-known tourist attraction in the Blue Mountains of NSW, at the request of the ZZR board.
This workshop, presented by two senior rail investigators covered how the ATSB conducts investigations and how Australian Standard AS4292.7 would apply to ZZR. The aim being to give the ZZR investigation team a broad understanding of what a typical investigation would look like, and how they could improve safety through the investigative process.
The Zig Zag railway was built in the 1860s, to transport people and produce from the western plains of NSW to Sydney. It was replaced in 1910 by a 10 tunnel deviation. During the 1970s the line was rebuilt as a fully operational tourist railway using narrow gauge track and rolling stock from Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia. The trains, track and rolling stock are maintained and operated by the Zig Zag Railway Co-op Ltd, a voluntary, “not for profit’ co-operative.
The ATSB would like to thank the board of Zig Zag Railway for giving us the opportunity to visit and play a part in helping to return the Zig Zag Railway to operational status.