(Source: The Guardian, November 9, 2018)
LONDON — A runaway driverless freight train that derailed in northern Tasmania and injured two people did not respond to remote control commands before rolling away from a loading facility, a report has found. The out-of-control, 1,132-tonne TasRail train was deliberately derailed by authorities on 21 September near the heart of Devonport.
It was being loaded with cement 21km away at Railton when it became unresponsive to the driver’s remote control system, preliminary investigations released on Friday by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau found.
The driver put the train in reverse to line up its final two wagons with loading chutes, but it then became unresponsive.
He tried to reset the remote control system several times to no avail. As the driver walked to the train to restart the system, it began to roll slowly downhill.
He then tried to activate emergency stop features but the train did not respond.
The driver reported the runaway train to TasRail Train Control, who called emergency services.
Full story: The Guardian