AusRAIL, Market Sectors

Investigators to rebuild crashed carriages

<p>New techniques will be used to examine the carriages involved in last week’s fatal train crash at Waterfall, New South Wales transport minister Carl Scully said.</p> <p>The four damaged Tangara carriages will be taken to Auburn for examination using techniques not previously employed in rail accident investigations in the state, Mr Scully said.</p> <p>"This includes the complete rebuilding of the damaged carriages to piece together what happened to the train," Mr Scully said.</p> <p>"Investigators will analyse the damage to the carriages, identify and examine important components to determine whether there were any faults in these components which attributed to the accident."</p> <p>Four specialist safety engineers have begun working on the accident inquiry, which is to be headed by retired supreme court Judge Peter McInerney.</p> <p>Judge McInerney investigated the 1999 Glenbrook crash and recommended sweeping changes to improve rail safety.</p> <p>The State Government has been criticised for its slowness to implement all of the recommendations.</p> <p>The investigations will also undertake computer modelling to examine possible scenarios that could have led to the derailment.</p> <p>Eight people were killed and 42 were injured on Friday, January 31, when the Port Kembla-bound commuter train derailed and struck a metal stanchion and then a cliff face a few kilometers south of Waterfall station. </p> <p>A State Rail spokesman said the line is expected to reopen this afternoon (Monday, February 3), with the first passenger service using it about 2 pm.</p> <br />