Investigators sift through the wreckage of a train that suddenly derailed killing two people and injured 11 others – as speed, signals and track maintenance are thoroughly examined
- Canberra man John Kennedy has been named as the driver of the train
- He died alongside the train’s pilot – 11 passengers were also hurt in the crash
- Speed of the carriage, maintenance of the train and the railway line examined
The train driver who died in a horrific derailment between Melbourne and Sydney has been named as 54-year-old John Kennedy (pictured) from Canberra
Investigators are sifting through the wreck of a train derailment that killed the driver and pilot north of Melbourne.
Canberra man John Kennedy has been named as the driver of the XPT diesel locomotive that was travelling from Sydney to Melbourne before it derailed at Wallan on Thursday night.
The 54-year-old died alongside the train’s pilot, a 49-year-old man from Castlemaine in regional Victoria. Eleven of the train’s 160 passengers were also injured.
Speed is one of the factors being looked at, after it was reported the train was supposed to slow to 15km/h as it was diverted through a different part of track near Wallan station.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau is looking at the maintenance of the train and railway line as well as signalling data.
Some passengers from the XPT have said it was speeding when it derailed.
A Sydney man described “hanging on for grim death” as the train came off the tracks.
“It probably went about 150 metres before it stopped, there were carriages going sideways – pretty horrifying,” he said.
Passenger Leyon Gray estimated the train was “probably doing 80 or 90km/h” before everyone was thrown out of their seats.
Some passengers also claimed there was an onboard announcement saying the driver was trying to make up for a lost time before the crash. Police would not confirm this.
The Rail, Tram and Bus Union said the the train came off a section of track awaiting maintenance.
“Conditions were altered and V/Line drivers rightly refused to traverse this section over the past week,” secretary Luba Grigorovitch said.
The Victorian Nationals’ deputy leader Steph Ryan raised concerns about the rail line with the state government days before the crash and after another train was derailed further up the line in January.
Authorities remain at the scene of a fatal derailment of an XPT train north of Melbourne
Mr Kennedy died along with another male pilot on Thursday night when his train crashed on its way to Southern Cross Station in Victoria (pictured)
But Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack was not aware of complaints by drivers about the safety of the section of the track.
“No authority would let passengers travel on unsafe track,” he told reporters at the scene.
“We will ensure that proper answers are found for the bereaved families and making sure these sorts of things don’t happen again.”
It’s expected to take days to clear the tracks, with buses set to replace all Seymour, Shepparton and Albury train services until further notice.
The transport safety bureau will release a preliminary report into the crash in about a month, ahead of a final report in 18 months.
The transport safety bureau will release a preliminary report into the crash in about a month, ahead of a final report in 18 months