Passengers on a late-running XPT train have recalled how the driver had announced plans to make up time before a horror derailment.
The driver, a man, 54, from the ACT and his female pilot, 49, from Victoria died at the scene after the train from Sydney to Melbourne derailed with 160 passengers on board.
The express passenger train (XPT) – which can reach speeds of up to 160km/h – came off the tracks just before 8pm Thursday near the town of Wallan, 50km north of Melbourne.
Passengers have recalled the horrifying moments of being violently thrown around carriages on the moment of impact.
They told Channel Nine’s Today Show the driver made announcement on the PA system minutes prior that they were planning to make up time on the service which was running two hours behind schedule.
There are also reports of a signal fault and that there have been problems on that section of the track for weeks.
One person was taken to hospital in a stable condition and 11 others were taken to hospital with minor injuries.
There are 20 people still unaccounted for, but Victoria Police told Daily Mail Australia they are believed to have evacuated the train before emergency crews arrived.
They are urged to contact authorities to confirm they are safe.
A passenger detailed how he bravely tried to save the driver.
‘I ran over and to try and smash the window but I couldn’t but I couldn’t get him out.’
Two people have died after a train from Sydney to Melbourne derailed with 160 passengers on board. The Sydney-Melbourne express train is pictured with one carriage lying on its side
A passenger is taken into an ambulance by paramedics after being rescued from the wreckage of the crash
Rescue workers at the scene treat a patient on a stretcher. Some 160 people were on board when the train crashed
One passenger reported the carriages crumpling when the train derailed and items going ‘flying’ including tray tables
All passengers who were able to walk from the train have been taken to the Wallan McDonald’s and the BP Truckstore area being used as a triage centre
At a triage centre set up at a nearby service station, a Sydney couple who had taken the train to visit their son in Melbourne said the tragedy had been terrifying.
‘You just hang on for grim death. You’re being thrown around, the things going along tilting over and all you can look out the window and just see dirt and debris and stuff flying up past the windows and the track itself is just twisted and bent,’ the man said.
‘It probably went about 150 metres before it stopped, there were carriages going sideways – pretty horrifying.’
The woman said her thoughts were with those who had died.
‘We’re very sad about that. Two people who went off to work this morning and never went home,’ she said.
The train, pictured on Thursday night, had left Sydney’s Central Station at 7.40am on Thursday morning and was scheduled to arrive at Melbourne’s Southern Cross Station at 6.30pm
Police officers are seen outside the triage centre created at a service station near the derailed train in Wallan on Thursday
The train had left Sydney’s Central Station at 7.40am on Thursday morning and was scheduled to arrive at Melbourne’s Southern Cross Station at 6.30pm.
It was running more than two hours late at the time of the crash.
The track buckled and both carriages shifted at least 10m from their normal trajectory.
The train was reportedly gaining speed prior to coming off the tracks after stopping for a signalling issue.
Luggage is pictured strewn across railway tracks after the train from Sydney to Melbourne derailed on Thursday evening
In the days before the derailment the V/Line Seymour Line – which operates on the same stretch of railway as the interstate service – had posted dozens of times on Twitter about delays due to a ‘rail equipment fault’ at Wallan.
Another passenger reported the carriages crumpling when the train derailed, but said most people were able to walk off the train by themselves.
‘Fortunately only a few people injured in our carriage,’ the passenger Dr Scott Rickard wrote on Twitter.
‘Stuff flew everywhere. Carriages crumpled at edges. We walked out. Most people able to walk out.
‘We’re in a bit of shock, but OK. Drinking cuppas now.’
Another passenger told The Age the derailment lasted about a minute from the moment the train left the tracks to when it came to a halt.
Emergency responders pictured at the scene of the derailment near Wallan station. The rail lines between Melbourne and Sydney have been closed as the injured are assessed at a nearby truck stop
‘People were tossing around … there was some screaming – everyone was just grasping on, some in the brace position, preparing for the possibility of something worse,’ the passenger Rob Jennings said.
When the train finally stopped, he said passengers who were mostly unscathed by the derailment tried to free the driver – while others tried in vain to smash the windows of their carriage.
Pictures taken at the scene showed one of the train’s carriages on its side and luggage lying on the railway tracks.
In the days before the derailment the V/Line Seymour Line had posted dozens of times on Twitter about delays due to a ‘rail equipment fault’ at Wallan
Passengers are pictured after the train derailed. Eleven people have been taken to hospital – one of whom is in a stable condition
Police and fire emergency services are pictured at the scene. At least three helicopters have been deployed to a scene described by the Country Fire Service as ‘very chaotic at this stage’
A triage centre has been set up nearby following the derailment which happened about 7.50pm on Thursday evening
The rail lines between Melbourne and Sydney have been closed.
At least three helicopters were deployed to a scene the Country Fire Authority described as ‘very chaotic’.
All passengers who were able to walk from the train were taken to the Wallan McDonald’s and the BP Truckstore area being used as a triage centre.
