DEPUTY PM DENIES DERAILMENT TRAIN LINE ‘NOT SAFE’
TRAINS would not be allowed on an unsafe track and no staff safety concerns were raised over the lines where a train fatally derailed, the deputy prime minister says.
Authorities say it is a miracle more people were not killed when the Sydney to
Melbourne XPT diesel locomotive and five carriages came off tracks near Wallan Station, 45km north of the city on Thursday evening.
A male driver, 54, from the ACT and the female pilot, 49, from Castlemaine in Victoria, died in the crash.
Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack repeatedly stressed federal authorities would not allow a train to travel on unsafe track.
“I reiterate no authority would let passengers travel on unsafe track,” he said at the scene.
But the rail union and Victorian National Steph Ryan say safety concerns about the track have been raised for some time.
“The ... derailment near Wallan Station last night occurred over a section of track over which was awaiting maintenance,” Rail, Tram and Bus Union secretary Luba Grigorovitch said in a statement.
There were 160 passengers and crew on board the train, which was running more than an hour behind schedule, when it derailed just before 7.45pm.
A BRISBANE man charged with possessing childlike sex dolls has appeared in court.
Terry John Dunnett, 44, is the first person in Queensland to be charged for the offence under new Commonwealth laws targeting child abuse-related offences.
Officers allegedly seized two of the anatomically correct dolls from Dunnett’s house, after finding one in a shipment from China.
Dunnett was released on bail to appear in the Brisbane Magistrates Court on April 3.
The new Commonwealth laws regarding sex dolls came into effect last September.