A Newcastle-bound coal train derailed because there was an empty wagon midway along the laden train - a result of multiple failures at the loading facility of Moolarben Coal Complex, an investigation has found.
The final report into the derailment and collision incident that occurred at Ravensworth on September 26 in 2018 was released by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau earlier this week.
The investigation by the Office of Transport Safety Investigations, on behalf of the ATSB, found that a sensor malfunction in an automatic coal-loading system being commissioned at Moolarben stopped the train's 25th wagon from being filled.
When the sensor failed, a "wagon empty detected" alarm was activated but the train loading operator [TLO] was "pre-occupied with other non-work related activity" and missed viewing the wagon as it passed under the loading bin.
The alarm had also false triggered multiple times prior to the event.
"Reduced confidence in the alarm from several false empty wagon alerts during the commission process meant the TLO was pre-occupied when the alarm sounded and the opportunity to see and confirm the wagon was loaded was missed," OTSI Acting Chief Investigator Mick Quinn said.
Other factors at the facility were also to blame for the empty wagon entering the rail network and causing the otherwise laden Pacific National train to derail 160 kilometres away at Antiene.
These included bad lighting and and the wrong wagons being manually checked to see if they were full. Mr Quinn said empty or light loaded wagons positioned between loaded wagons was a known risk that could have severe consequences.
"In this instance, trailing in-train longitudinal forces lifted the empty wagon and its trailing bogie, resulting in the leading wheelset of the trailing bogie mounting the rail and dismounting," he said.
"The wheelset then ejected from the bogie and the train continued with the bogie dragging."
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An empty Aurizon coal train travelling in the opposite direction collided with the bogie, which was hanging over the adjacent line, despite its drivers spotting the obstruction and applying the train's emergency brakes.
The collision caused the Newcastle-bound train's empty wagon and the following seven wagons to derail.
The empty coal train's locomotives and two wagons also derailed.
About nine kilometres of track and infrastructure between Antiene and Ravensworth were damaged in the incident, closing the line for almost a week.
In response to the incident, Moolarben corrected the sensor, implemented a more detailed verification process, increased monitoring of its weighbridge performance and improved lighting.
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