QR shoulders blame for tilt train crash

<p>QR had accepted responsibility for the derailment of the Cairns tilt train and would accept the 11 recommendations of the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB), the organisation said.</p> <p>In accepting the conclusions of the bureau’s final report into the November 16, 2004 crash, QR chief executive Bob Scheuber said the incident had reinforced that safety was to be the "absolute priority".</p> <p>"Over the next three months we will work through each recommendation in detail so as to provide Queensland Transport with our considered and comprehensive responses," Mr Scheuber said.</p> <p>QR had already taken a number of steps that were highlighted in the bureau’s report, he said.</p> <p>These include a temporary reduction in maximum speed to 100 km&#47h and the introduction of automatic train protection.</p> <p>The report had also highlighted a number of positives for QR, including the high standard crashworthiness of the tilt train and the response of QR staff and emergency services to the incident, Mr Scheuber said.</p> <p>More than 100 passengers and crew were injured in the crash when the Cairns tilt train derailed about 50km north of Bundaberg.</p> <p>The locomotive’s event recorder showed the train was travelling at 112 km&#47h when it derailed on a section of track with a speed limit of 60 km&#47h. </p> <br />