On the Eastern Goldfields Railway on 14 January 1996 at Hines Hill, Western Australia, two trains entered a passing loop simultaneously in opposing directions, although signals at the end of the passing loop were correctly showing red for stop. They subsequently collided with each other. Two people were killed in the collision.
Overview
The trains involved were National Rail Corporation's 5SP5 intermodal Sydney to Perth freighter, and Westrail's 7025 Perth to Kalgoorlie freighter.
The National Rail train in one direction misjudged the stop, and went past the red signal, hitting the last wagons of the Westrail train. These wagons were tankers containing diesel which burst into flames, destroying the train data recorders that might have explained what speed the train was travelling at. National Rail locomotives AN10 and DL37 were written off due to being damaged beyond repair. A relay control room which was close to the fire was also destroyed.
The collision happened at night, and there were no distance boards which might have helped the driver of the NR train judge the distance to the stop signal showing red.
Aftermath
In June 1998, Westrail was fined $95,000 with $85,000 in costs.