The accident happened on the lines between the Box Hill and Khandallah stations at around 7:20pm on Saturday. Two passengers have serious but non-life-threatening injuries, and the driver and another staff member have minor injuries. Transport Accident Investigation Commission’s (TAIC) chief investigator has described the train crash in Khandallah as a “serious incident”, and said it was too early in the investigation to determine the cause. TAIC is the agency responsible for investigating rail crashes. “We will certainly look at all aspects of the investigation,
we will look at the people involved, the system involved, we will gather data from the train and analyse it and determine what caused this accident in order to prevent it from happening again.” Louise Cook said a number of people required medical treatment and the was train seriously damaged. She said it was too early to say what caused the crash and was unable to give an investigation timeframe. However, she expected investigators to be on site for the next few days securing and
gathering evidence, which she said was the priority. Greater Wellington Chairman Daran Ponter said once the investigations were over, the train would be pulled back to the station then taken off the tracks by crane. The passenger train on Wellington’s Johnsonville line derailed with nine people on board. Six people were injured, including two who were in a serious condition. Investigators have been at the scene since, and the Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC) has appealed for witnesses. Metlink, who runs the rail services and
network, says the cause of the incident is not known, but the train was diverted to a runoff route where it hit a concrete stop block before the wheels came off the track. The TAIC media briefing being held at Khandallah Station. Buses will be replacing trains on the Johnsonville Line for the next few days.
Wellington, Johnsonville line, Khandallah, Box Hill, train crash, TAIC, serious incident, investigations, Metlink, buses replacing trains