Legislative Council Select Committee on Train Services Alan Osborne Director, Public Transport Safety Chris McKeown General Manager Safety Systems
Rail safety regulation › Operators required to comply with the Victorian Rail Safety Act 2006 › Essentially requires the safety accreditation of rail operators and monitoring ongoing performance › Key priority is the prevention of catastrophic train accidents
Rail accidents – Australian focus › A 10 year chronology of significant accidents….
Glenbrook, NSW – December 1999 Source: Emergency Management NSW – downloaded on 2/09/09 from: http://www.emergency.nsw.gov.au/content.php/646.html
Holmesglen, Vic. – July 2000 Source: Department of Transport
Source: Australian Transport Safety Bureau Footscray, Vic. – June 2001
Source: Australian Transport Safety Bureau Epping, Vic. – June 2002
Source: Australian Transport Safety Bureau Epping – Additional view
Waterfall, NSW – January 2003 Source: The Age
Broadmeadows, Vic. - February 2003 Source: Australian Transport Safety Bureau
Trawalla, Vic. - April 2006 Source: Railpage.com.au
Kerang, Vic. - June 2007 Source: Daily Telegraph
Reduction in system type events over the last 3 years › Rail Safety Act 2006 (Vic) represented an incremental improvement in rail system safety › Kerang accident has been the most serious accident since the Act came into operation - a road accident which seriously impacted on the rail system
We must remain vigilant › Management of issues which could lead to serious events eg: › broken rails (derailment risk) › track buckling (derailment risk) › tri-colour signals (collision risk) › train braking (collision risk)
Broken rail performance over 3 years Track & civil infrastructure irregularity - broken rail Heavy rail Victoria 2007 - 2009 25 2007 2008 2009 20 18 18 2007 Trend 16 2008 Trend 15 2009 Trend 10 9 Trend: M oving 10 average 3mth 7 Source: PTSV 5 Occurrence Database. Data as 5 3 reported to PTSV from Accredited Operator. 0 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Buckled track performance over 3 years Track & civil infrastructure irregularity - buckled track Heavy rail Victoria 2007 - 2009 35 2007 29 2008 30 2009 2007 Trend 25 2008 Trend 2009 Trend 20 Trend: M oving 15 average 3mth Source: PTSV 10 Occurrence Database. Data as 5 reported to PTSV 3 5 from Accredited 1 1 0 0 0 Operator. 0 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Derailment performance over 3 years Derailments - running line Heavy rail Victoria 2007 - 2009 6 2007 2008 5 2009 2007 Trend 4 2008 Trend 2009 Trend 3 3 Trend: M oving 2 2 average 3mth 2 Source: PTSV Occurrence Database. Data 1 as reported to PTSV from 0 0 0 0 0 Accredited 0 Operator. Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
SPAD performance over 3 years Human error SPADs include driver misjudged, Signals passed at danger - human error completely missed while running and starting against signal. Excludes other. Heavy rail Victoria 2007 - 2009 10 9 2007 9 2008 2009 8 7 7 2007 Trend 7 2008 Trend 6 2009 Trend 6 5 Trend: M oving 4 3 3 average 3mth Source: PTSV 3 2 Occurrence 2 Database. Data as 1 reported to PTSV 1 from Accredited Operator. 0 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Management of rail safety › Maintaining good engineering inspection regimes to monitor event precursors › Putting safety ahead of operational performance › Using speed restrictions to manage safety with identified problems › Recent international accidents provide examples of where this has not occurred….
Chatsworth, LA – September 2008 Source: Los Angeles Times ‘Federal inquiry into Chatworth finds rail oversight woefully inadequate’
Washington – June 2009 Source: The Telegraph
Dublin - August 2009 Source: Irish Independent ‘Calls for major investigation into rail safety’
Importance of safety culture › We have a good operational safety culture in the rail network in Victoria › This means safety performance must come ahead of operational performance › It is very important that this continues
Summary › PTSV is proactively monitoring the safety performance of Victoria’s railways › We have seen a reduction of system type accidents in Victoria over the last 3 years › We must though continue to be vigilant › This has required the rail network to slow down or stop on occasions
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