AGY-2081 | Special Commission of Inquiry into the Glenbrook Rail Accident

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At 8:22 am on 2 December 1999 a State Rail Authority inter urban train heading to Sydney from Lithgow collided with the rear of the Indian Pacific tourist train on the main western line at Glenbrook in the Blue Mountains. (1)

The Government established a Special Commission of Inquiry on 9 December 1999 and appointed The Honourable Mr Acting Justice Peter McInerney as Commissioner. (2) The Commissioner was to inquire into and report to the Governor on the following matters:

1. The causes of the railway accident at Glenbrook and the factors which contributed to it;
2. The adequacy of the risk management procedures applicable to the circumstances of the railway accident; and
3. Any safety improvements to rail operations (including any relevant structural changes) which the Commissioner considers necessary as a result of his findings under matters 1 and 2 and as a result of consideration of the reports of the rail safety investigations and any coronial report into recent railway accidents. (3)

On 10 December 1999, Mr Christopher Barry QC and Mr David Cowan were appointed by the Attorney General as Counsel Assisting. The Commission sat for the first time on 22 December 1999 for the purpose of providing directions for the conduct of the hearing. Applications for leave to appear at the hearing were received from the major rail entities, including: the State Rail Authority, Rail Access Corporation, Rail Services Australia, Great Southern Railway, and the National Rail Corporation. Applications were also received from the Legal Representative Office on behalf of injured passengers and the relatives of the deceased; the Australian Rail, Tram and Bus Industry Union (NSW Branch); and the Director General of the Department of Transport. (4)

A second directions hearing was held on 27 January 2000 and the formal hearing was fixed for 14 February 2000. The Special Commission sat continuously until 19 April 2000, with the exception of two days for inspections and one day to allow for the preparation of oral submissions. (5) In that time 96 witnesses gave evidence and 93 exhibits were tendered. On 6 June 2000, the Commission delivered its interim report and the Commissioner found 23 matters, which caused or contributed to the accident. All of these, with the exception of the area’s topography, related to deficiencies in the management of safety by the rail organisations involved.(6)

The Inquiry then examined rail safety, the structure of railways, and the risk management procedures in force at the time of the accident. In order for the Commissioner to consider the adequacy of these procedures, reports were submitted by the different rail entities on 10 July 2000. No public hearings were held between 1 September and 9 October 2000 because of the demands of the Olympic Games on railway resources. Public hearings recommenced on 10 October and were concerned with the structure of the government railways. The hearings were adjourned on 12 October to allow the Commissioner to prepare the Second Interim Report which was subsequently delivered on 1 November 2000. (7)

The Premier requested the Second Interim Report be delivered by 31 October 2000 to enable Parliament to consider any legislative changes before the end of the Spring Sittings. This time constraint prevented the Commissioner from advancing beyond outlining matters of a structural nature that would require legislation. (8) The Commissioner recommended 15 alterations to railway administration including: the formal establishment of the Office of the Co-ordinator General of Rail; the establishment of a Rail Safety Inspectorate; the establishment of a Rail Accident Investigation Board; and the merger of the infrastructure owner Rail Access Corporation and the infrastructure maintainer Rail Services Australia (referred to in the Report as Rail Services Authority) into a single statutory authority known as the Rail Infrastructure Authority. (9)

Public hearings recommenced on 8 November 2000 and continued until 13 December 2000 when the Commissioner adjourned proceedings to prepare his final report. In his final report which was presented on 11 April 2001 the Commissioner made 95 recommendations covering staff training, drivers, trackside workers, drug and alcohol testing, safety, and communications. In his recommendations the Commissioner listed the functions and responsibilities of the two agencies he recommended be established in his Second Interim Report, the Rail Safety Inspectorate and the Rail Accident Investigation Board. (10)

The administration of the Inquiry ceased on 14 December 2001. (11)



FOOTNOTES
1. Interim Report of the Special Commission of Inquiry into the Glenbrook Rail Accident, The Honourable Peter Aloysius McInerney, June 2000, p.5.
2. ibid., p.1.
3. The recent railway accidents were: Redfern on 6 April 2000, Hornsby on 9 July 1999 and 11 January 2000, Olympic Park on 2 September 1999 and 14 November 1999, Waverton on 20 December 1999, Kerabee on 18 August 1998, Bell on 15 October 1998. (Interim Report of the Special Commission of Inquiry into the Glenbrook Rail Accident, p.1).
4. Interim Report of the Special Commission of Inquiry into the Glenbrook Rail Accident, The Honourable Peter Aloysius McInerney, June 2000, p.1.
5. ibid., p.2.
6. ibid., pp.69-76; Final Report of the Special Commission of Inquiry into the Glenbrook Rail Accident, The Honourable Peter Aloysius McInerney, April 2001, p.10.
7. Final Report of the Special Commission of Inquiry into the Glenbrook Rail Accident, The Honourable Peter Aloysius McInerney, April 2001, p.3.
8. Second Interim Report of the Special Commission of Inquiry into the Glenbrook Rail Accident, The Honourable Peter Aloysius McInerney, November 2000, p.2.
9. ibid., pp.56-57.
10. Final Report of the Special Commission of Inquiry into the Glenbrook Rail Accident, The Honourable Peter Aloysius McInerney, April 2001, pp.179-187.
11. NRS 15731.