Newman Government must restore confidence in rail safety

Media Release.

The Opposition has welcomed the Australian Transport Safety Bureau’s (ATSB) preliminary report into the incident at Cleveland Station on 31 January 2013.

Opposition Transport Spokesperson Jackie Trad acknowledged the finding that debris and contaminants on the track were to blame and not driver error or the failure of train mechanics.

“It is disappointing that Transport Minister Scott Emerson has used the release of the ATSB report to score political points against unions instead of working cooperatively to fix any safety issues,” Ms Trad said

“Furthermore, the Minister needs to guarantee job cuts at Queensland Rail would not slow down the implementation of the ATSB report’s key recommendation.

“The Newman Government cut 500 jobs from Queensland Rail in the State Budget since then there have been report of further job losses,” Ms Trad said.

“I call on the Government to guarantee Queensland Rail is fully resourced so that the work can be completed quickly and full confidence in the safety of the rail network can be restored.”

Ms Trad said it was important to remember the ATSB will continue to work on the final report and the Queensland Rail Safety Regulator is still investigating the incident.

“I note that Queensland Rail has established a Wheel Rail Interface Working Group that will address the issues raised by this preliminary report,” Ms Trad said.

“As yet there is no timeframe for the completion of that work, but it’s critical that it is completed quickly and the public is kept up to date on any progress.”

Ms Trad said the Queensland Government is yet to publish any results of an investigation into the serious collision between a train and a truck at Banyo station in September 2012.

“I ask the Minister to explain why this report has not been made public and immediately release it,” Ms Trad said.

“Queenslanders need to know whether this accident has any safety implications for the rest of the network.”