The Granville rail/train disaster occurred on Tuesday 18 January 1977 at Granville, a western suburb of

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, Australia, when a crowded commuter train derailed, running into the supports of a road bridge that collapsed onto two of the train's passenger carriages. The official enquiry found the primary cause of the crash to be poor fastening of the track. It remains the worst rail disaster in Australian history: 83 people died, more than 213 were injured, and 1,300 were affected. An 84th victim, an unborn child, was added to the fatality list in 2017.

Disaster

The train involved in the disaster consisted of eight passenger carriages hauled by 46 class

electric locomotive An electric locomotive is a locomotive powered by electricity from overhead lines, a third rail or on-board energy storage such as a battery or a supercapacitor. Locomotives with on-board fuelled prime movers, such as diesel engines or gas ...

4620, and had commenced its journey towards

from Mount Victoria in the Blue Mountains at 6:09 a.m. At approximately 8:10 a.m. it was approaching

Granville railway station Granville railway station is a train station located on the Main Suburban line, serving the suburb of Granville, New South Wales, Australia. It is served by Sydney Trains T1 Western Line and T2 Inner West & Leppington Line services. It is t ...

when the locomotive derailed and struck one of the steel-and-concrete pillars supporting the bridge carrying Bold Street over the railway cutting. The derailed engine and first two carriages passed the bridge. The first carriage, which broke free from the other carriages, was torn open when it collided with a severed mast beside the track, killing eight passengers. The remaining carriages came to a halt with the second carriage clear of the bridge. The rear half of the third carriage, and forward half of the fourth carriage, came to rest under the weakened bridge, whose weight was estimated at . Within seconds, with all its supports demolished, the bridge and several motor cars on top of it collapsed on top of the carriages, crushing them and the passengers inside. Granville Railway Station Disaster Memorial Plaque

Granville Railway Station Disaster Memorial Plaque

Of the total number of passengers travelling in the third and fourth carriages, half were killed instantly when the bridge fell on them, crushing them in their seats. Several injured passengers were trapped in the train for hours after the accident, with part of the bridge crushing a limb or torso. Some had been conscious and lucid, talking to rescuers, but died of

crush syndrome Crush syndrome (also traumatic rhabdomyolysis or Bywaters' syndrome) is a medical condition characterized by major shock and kidney failure after a crushing injury to skeletal muscle. Crush ''injury'' is compression of the arms, legs, or other p ...

soon after the weight was removed from their bodies. This resulted in changes to rescue procedures for these kinds of accidents. Rescuers also faced greater difficulties as the weight of the bridge was still crushing the affected carriages, reducing the space in which they had to work to get survivors out, until it was declared that no one was allowed to attempt further entry until the bridge had been lifted. Soon after, the bridge settled a further onto the train, trapping two rescuers and crushing a

portable generator An engine–generator is the combination of an electrical generator and an engine (prime mover) mounted together to form a single piece of equipment. This combination is also called an ''engine–generator set'' or a ''gen-set''. In many contexts ...

"like butter". Another danger came from gas; LPG cylinders were kept year-round on board the train to be used in winter for heating. Several people were overcome by gas leaking from ruptured cylinders. The leaking gas also prevented the immediate use of powered rescue tools. The

NSW Fire Brigade Fire and Rescue New South Wales (previously known as New South Wales Fire Brigades), an agency of the Government of New South Wales, Australia, is responsible for firefighting, rescue and HazMat services in the major cities, metropolitan areas ...

provided ventilation equipment to dispel the gas and a constant film of water was sprayed over the accident site to prevent the possibility of the gas igniting. The train driver, the assistant crewman, the "second man", and the motorists including one motorcyclist driving on the fallen bridge all survived. The operation lasted from 8:12 a.m. Tuesday until 6:00 a.m. Thursday. Ultimately, 84 people were killed in the accident, including an unborn child.

Aftermath

The bridge was rebuilt as a single span without any intermediate support piers. Other bridges similar to the destroyed bridge had their piers reinforced. Granville railway bridge

The original inquiry into the accident found that the primary cause of the crash was "the very unsatisfactory condition of the permanent way", being the poor fastening of the track, causing the track to spread and allowing the left front wheel of the locomotive to come off the rail. Other contributing factors included the structure of the bridge itself. When built, the base of its deck was found to be one metre lower than the road. Concrete was added on top to build the surface up level with the road. This additional weight significantly added to the destruction of the wooden train carriages. The disaster prompted substantial increases in rail-maintenance expenditure. The train driver, Edward Olencewicz, was exonerated by the inquiry. The Granville Train Disaster Association Inc. was formed 39 years after the accident to represent those affected. Barry Gobbe, Meredith Knight, the

Minister for Transport A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government ag ...

Andrew Constance Andrew James Constance (born 31 October 1973) is a former Australian politician and was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly representing Bega for the Liberal Party between 2003 and December 2021. Constance served as the New ...

, and

New South Wales Premier The premier of New South Wales is the head of government in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The Government of New South Wales follows the Westminster Parliamentary System, with a Parliament of New South Wales acting as the legislature. ...

Gladys Berejiklian Gladys Berejiklian (born 22 September 1970) is an Australian former politician who served as the 45th premier of New South Wales and the leader of the New South Wales division of the Liberal Party from 2017 to 2021. Berejiklian became a member ...

requested an apology for the way the victims of the disaster were treated by the Wran Government of the day. On 4 May 2017, Berejiklian gave a formal apology to the victims of the disaster, in New South Wales Parliament House.

Memorial

Families and friends of the victims and survivors gather with surviving members of the rescue crews annually. The ceremony ends with the throwing of 84 roses on to the tracks to mark the number of passengers killed. In 2007, a plaque was placed on the bridge to mark the efforts of railway workers who assisted in rescuing survivors from the train. The original group, known as 'the trust', made submissions on rail safety issues, including recommending that fines for safety breaches be dedicated to rail safety improvements, and campaigning for the establishment of an independent railway safety

ombudsman An ombudsman (, also ,), ombud, ombuds, ombudswoman, ombudsperson or public advocate is an official who is usually appointed by the government or by parliament (usually with a significant degree of independence) to investigate complaints and at ...

Media

* A television

docudrama Docudrama (or documentary drama) is a genre of television and film, which features dramatized re-enactments of actual events. It is described as a hybrid of documentary and drama and "a fact-based representation of real event". Docudramas typic ...

, ''

The Day of the Roses ''The Day of the Roses'' is a two-part Australian television mini-series, a docu-drama directed by Peter Fisk, based on the events of the 1977 Granville railway disaster. The film was made in 1998 and runs over 3.5 hours. Described as "a drama ...

'', was produced in 1998 about the accident. * ''The Granville Train Disaster: 35 Years of Memories''-a 2011 book by B. J. Gobbe, an emergency worker who attended the incident. * A television documentary, ''The Train'', produced by Graham McNeice from Shadow Productions was aired in 2012 on

The History Channel Australia History, formerly known as Fox History and The History Channel, is a television channel in Australia and New Zealand, that broadcasts non-fictional programs regarding historical events and persons, as well as various metaphysical, pseudoscientifi ...

about the accident, and narrated by Brian Henderson. * Revisiting the Granville Train Disaster of 1977 - a 2017 book by B. J. Gobbe. * ABC’s ''

You Can't Ask That ''You Can't Ask That'' is an Australian TV series created by ABC Television that first went to air in August 2016. its seventh season is on air in Australia. The series will take a rest in 2023, however is expected to return beyond that. His ...

'', series 4 episode 8, was on Disaster Survivors, including one from the accident who spoke about what happened and the long term impacts on her life.

References

External links