Placing a call to train control on a cellphone rather than a radio led to an investigation by the Transport Accident Investigation Commission.
On January 12 this year, a signals technician called train control to request a speed restriction down to 10kmh on the Rayonier Crossing south of Mataura to carry out signals maintenance work.
The technician used a cellphone rather than radio.
The train controller acknowledged the call and carried out administrative tasks required to impose the speed restriction.
A train heading south then passed through Mataura and the driver was unaware of the temporary 10kmh speed limit.
At 11.51am it travelled through the crossing at a speed of 77kmh.
The two technicians working on the track did not get any notice of the train coming but heard the horn and got out of the way.
The train controller annotated the train control graph but did not advise the single train in the area of the speed restriction because they were waiting for the locomotive engineer to get to Mataura.
The locomotive engineer did not call train control immediately when they had cleared Mataura station.
The commission made no recommendations from the incidents but noted communications over train tracks and train movements be made over radio rather than a cellphone
It said compliance with safe working rules and procedures was necessary to protect all rail workers, non-compliance might lead to near misses, incidents or accidents.
It said any staff involved in safety-critical activities and their managers may benefit from the findings in the report. — Allied Media
