On 20 February 2020, a

NSW TrainLink NSW TrainLink is a train and coach operator in Australia, providing services throughout New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, along with limited interstate services into Victoria, Queensland and South Australia. Its primary interc ...

XPT passenger train derailed while passing through a turnout at

Wallan Wallan , traditionally known as Wallan Wallan (large circular place of water), is a town in Victoria, north of Melbourne's Central Business District. The town sits at the southern end of the large and diverse Shire of Mitchell which extends f ...

Victoria, Australia Victoria is a state in southeastern Australia. It is the second-smallest state with a land area of , the second most populated state (after New South Wales) with a population of over 6.5 million, and the most densely populated state in Au ...

. Of the 162 total on board, there were two fatalities and 61 passengers were injured, eight of whom sustained serious injuries. The service was running from

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 ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

and was passing through Wallan. The interim report into the accident indicated that the train had entered the turnout, with a specified speed limit of , at more than . An investigation into the accident is ongoing.

Background

On 3 February 2020 a vehicle had struck overhead wiring at

, leading to a fire in a signalling hut which caused extensive damage to wiring and affecting signalling on the

North East line The North East MRT line (NEL) is a high-capacity Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line in Singapore. Operated by SBS Transit, it is the shortest MRT line at . The line runs from HarbourFront station in southern Singapore to Punggol station in the no ...

between Donnybrook and

Kilmore East Kilmore East is a locality in the Australian state of Victoria, 65 kilometres north of Melbourne. At the , Kilmore East had a population of 417. Kilmore East was occupied for European use by John Green, a neighboring pastoralist on the Kilmore ...

. Trains were signalled through the affected section using Caution Orders. On 6 February, this was changed to using Train Orders, a manual safe-working system. The points at the Wallan Loop were set to the straight ahead position and locked. No speed restriction was put in place.

V/Line V/Line is a statutory authority that operates regional passenger train and coach services in Victoria, Australia. It provides passenger train services on five commuter lines and eight long-distance routes from its major hub at Southern Cross ...

services in the Wallan area had been delayed in the weeks leading up to the accident due to the ongoing faults. On 20 February, trains were routed through the Wallan Loop for rail cleaning purposes. A speed limit of entering the loop and exiting the loop was out in place. Two V/Line trains passed through the loop before the XPT.

Accident

The accident occurred at 19:43, when

's 07:40

service operated by an XPT set entered a turnout near

, about north of Melbourne, and derailed. The train, comprising power car XP2018 (leading), five carriages and power car XP2000, was carrying 155 passengers and seven crew members. The train was running about two hours behind schedule at the time of the accident. As the train passed through the turnout, leading power car XP2018 and the first four carriages derailed, with one carriage and rear power car XP2000 remaining on the track.An Express Passenger Train 40 years - Part 2 ''

Australian Railway History ''Australian Railway History'' is a monthly magazine covering railway history in Australia, published by the New South Wales Division of the Australian Railway Historical Society on behalf of its state and territory Divisions.000 call was made at 19:45. Two people were killed: the train's driver and the

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

. Emergency services confirmed that 12 people had been taken to hospital. The injured were taken to the Kilmore Hospital, Kilmore and The Northern Hospital, Epping; one person was airlifted to the

Royal Melbourne Hospital The Royal Melbourne Hospital (RMH), located in Parkville, Victoria, an inner suburb of Melbourne, is one of Australia's leading public hospitals. It is a major teaching hospital for tertiary health care with a reputation in clinical research. Th ...

Aftermath

The derailment caused the closure of the North East line and the adjacent

broad gauge A broad-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge (the distance between the rails) broader than the used by standard-gauge railways. Broad gauge of , commonly known as Russian gauge, is the dominant track gauge in former Soviet Union (CIS ...

line, impacting freight services and V/Line services to Seymour,

Shepparton Shepparton () ( Yortayorta: ''Kanny-goopna'') is a city located on the floodplain of the Goulburn River in northern Victoria, Australia, approximately north-northeast of Melbourne. As of the 2021 census, the estimated population of Shepparton, ...

and

Albury Albury () is a major regional city in New South Wales, Australia. It is located on the Hume Highway and the northern side of the Murray River. Albury is the seat of local government for the council area which also bears the city's name – the ...

. On 23 February, the

Australian Rail Track Corporation The Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) is an Australian Government-owned statutory corporation. It operates one of the largest rail networks in the nation spanning 8,500km across five states, 39 worksites and more than 50 First Nations. ...

commenced removal of the train from the rail corridor. Seymour and Shepparton V/Line services resumed on 1 March, followed by Albury services on 2 March. Major speed restrictions were in turn enforced on the North East line, with NSW TrainLink temporarily terminating services at Albury. Passengers reported that the train had been gaining speed at the time of the accident, after being stopped due to a signalling issue. In the days preceding the accident, trains were scheduled to pass through the turnout in the straight ahead position. On that day, trains were instead diverted into a

passing loop A passing loop (UK usage) or passing siding (North America) (also called a crossing loop, crossing place, refuge loop or, colloquially, a hole) is a place on a single line railway or tramway, often located at or near a station, where trains or ...

while work was carried out on the adjacent track. The Victorian branch of the

Australian Rail Tram and Bus Industry Union The Australian Rail Tram and Bus Industry Union (RTBU) is an Australian trade union representing rail, tram and bus workers. The RTBU is affiliated with the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) and the Australian Labor Party (ALP). Intern ...

reported that V/Line drivers were refusing to traverse through the section of track that the XPT service derailed on. Regularly scheduled XPT services between Sydney and Melbourne resumed on 4 June. Of the two power cars, XP2000 was returned to service while XP2018 remained in store as at May 2021 at Maintrain,

Auburn Auburn may refer to: Places Australia * Auburn, New South Wales * City of Auburn, the local government area *Electoral district of Auburn *Auburn, Queensland, a locality in the Western Downs Region *Auburn, South Australia *Auburn, Tasmania *Aub ...

pending the completion of investigations.

Investigations

Australian Transport Safety Bureau

The

Australian Transport Safety Bureau The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) is Australia's national transport safety investigator. The ATSB is the federal government body responsible for investigating transport-related accidents and incidents within Australia. It covers air ...

(ATSB) opened an investigation into the accident on 20 February. It is being led by the

Victorian Government The Victoria State Government, also referred to as just the Victorian Government, is the state-level authority for Victoria, Australia. Like all state governments, it is formed by three independent branches: the executive, the judicial, and th ...

Chief Investigator, Transport Safety The Chief Investigator, Transport Safety (the Chief Investigator) is the independent Government agency responsible for investigation of safety-related trends and incidents in the rail, bus and marine industries in the State of Victoria, Austra ...

, assisted by the ATSB and the

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 ...

Office of Transport Safety Investigations in accordance with the ''Transport Safety Investigation Act 2003''. The train's

data logger A data logger (also datalogger or data recorder) is an electronic device that records data over time or about location either with a built-in instrument or sensor or via external instruments and sensors. Increasingly, but not entirely, they a ...

was recovered as part of the investigation. A preliminary report was published on 3 April. It was found that the train was travelling in excess of when it derailed. In the hours before the accident, a notice was circulated that trains on the North East line were to be routed via the Wallan passing loop, with a specified speed limit for entry into the loop. The train had approached the loop at "about the track's line speed" of , and an emergency brake application was made shortly before the train entered the turnout into the passing loop. The ATSB issued an interim report on 10 June 2021. The final report is expected to take 18 months to complete.

WorkSafe Victoria

WorkSafe Victoria WorkSafe Victoria is the trading name of the Victorian WorkCover Authority, a statutory authority of the state government of Victoria, Australia. History After being renamed in 2014 as Victorian Work-cover Authority by Minister Gordon Rich- ...

is also investigating the death of the train's pilot, a 49-year old man from

Castlemaine Castlemaine may mean: * Castlemaine, Victoria, a town in Victoria, Australia ** Castlemaine Football Club, an Australian rules football club ** Castlemaine railway station * Castlemaine, County Kerry, a town in Ireland * Castlemaine Brewery, Western ...

Bibliography

References

Derailments in Australia February 2020 events in Australia Railway accidents and incidents in Victoria (Australia) Railway accidents in 2020 NSW TrainLink 2020s in Victoria (Australia) Shire of Mitchell {{Use Australian English, date=February 2020