Driver dies as locomotives derail

By SCOTT MacLEOD

The fatal crash of a freight train in Taranaki has added to Tranz Rail's poor safety record.

Timothy Andrew Steffert, a 38-year-old engineer, was killed and his assistant, Daniel Brown, 25, badly hurt when their two locomotives rolled down a 5m bank in rugged hill country, 40km northeast of Stratford, early yesterday.

Tranz Rail suspected that the Auckland-to-Stratford train had crashed when the pair failed to make a check-in call.

Spokesman Alan McDonald said staff found the train at 4.30am in an area so rugged it took emergency services an hour to reach the scene.

Five of the 30 wagons were hazardous goods containers. One contained some paint, and the others were empty carbon dioxide containers. About half of the wagons were derailed.

The body of Mr Steffert, of Stratford, was not able to be extricated from the mangled steel and mud until 1pm.

Mr Brown was airlifted by rescue helicopter to Taranaki Base Hospital in New Plymouth, where he was in a satisfactory condition last night.

Fifty rescue workers battled thick mud to cut out his dead colleague.

Tranz Rail believes the diesel locomotives left the tracks about 3am near Te Wera.

The alarm was raised in Stratford when an expected call-in after 3am from the pair was not received, Mr McDonald said.

Several staff went out to search for the train.

It was eventually found alongside State Highway 43.

It appeared the train failed to take the bend and derailed, the two diesel locomotives slewing 60m along an embankment into swampy ground alongside the Mangaotuku Stream.



There was speculation at the site that speed might have been a factor. The cause of the derailment was unknown, but Mr McDonald said it happened on a bend with a 45 degree curve and a 50km/h speed limit.

Mr Steffert's death came four weeks after a major report said Tranz Rail had significantly under-reported rail track problems.

Figures published in February showed that 15 Tranz Rail workers had died in work-related accidents since 1993, and 60 had been seriously injured since 1995.

Mr McDonald yesterday put the death figure since 1993 at 10.

At the crash scene, Tranz Rail managing director Michael Beard offered sympathies to both families.



Staff from the Transport Accident Investigation Commission, Land Transport Safety Authority and Occupational Safety and Health also went to the scene. Searchers found the train's black box.

LTSA spokesman Andy Knackstedt said the authority had asked the commission to investigate.