A truck was stranded on a Brisbane rail level crossing for almost five minutes before being hit by an express train carrying around 300 passengers, a report into the incident has found.
There were no serious injuries in the incident that occurred on August 14 last year, although paramedics attended to six passengers with minor injuries.
An Australian Transport Safety Bureau investigation (ATSB) investigation found the rear trailer of the B-double truck became immobilised on the Bonemill Road level crossing in Runcorn, in Brisbane’s south, at about 6.47am.
CCTV footage shows the driver leaving the truck to inspect the vehicle while a number of cars drove around the truck.
Several minutes later the level crossing warning equipment sounded and the half boom barrier lowered.
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At the same time an express Queensland Rail service had just passed Fruitgrove Station when the train driver recalled noticing a “large shadow” on the tracks and activated the country horn.
The train was travelling at about 99km/h and was about 317m from the level crossing when the driver realised the shadow was a vehicle and activated the emergency brake, the report found.
The train collided with the side of the truck at 41km/h, causing substantial damage to the front of the train and the truck.
The investigation found the driver’s response in combination with the truck being empty at the time prevented “more serious consequences from the collision”.
The truck had obstructed the tracks for four minutes and 24 seconds, which provided an opportunity for an alarm to be raised.
The ATSB report noted that signage at the level crossing provided an emergency phone number for incident reporting. (Supplied: ATSB)
Signage at the level crossing provided and emergency number for incident reporting, the report stated, but the truck driver as well as several bystanders in the vicinity did not attempt to contact network control or emergency services.
CCTV at the level crossing was not being actively monitored by the security monitoring team at the time.
ATSB Director of Transport Safety Kerri Hughes said the accident “serves as a reminder that accidental obstruction of railway tracks should be treated as an emergency”.
Queensland Rail has committed to an independent review of its current level crossing management methodology.
