The United National Transport Union has laid the blame for Thursday’s Free State train crash at the door of a truck driver who apparently tried to outrun the train at a level crossing.
At least 18 people were killed and hundreds more injured when several coaches derailed after the train collided with the truck at a level crossing between Henneman and Kroonstad. The train was en route from Port Elizabeth to Johannesburg.
Untu's, Steve Harris, said one can only be furious with drivers who ignore crucial road signals indicating a train crossing.
“The basis road safety rules are clear that motorist and/or truck drivers should always stop at a train crossing to check if it is safe to continue,” he said.
Harris said this was something that happens daily at all railway crossings across the county.
“A Passenger rail train at its highest speed will be traveling at 90 km per hour. By the time the driver sees a vehicle obstructing the railway line and starts applying with its emergency brake application, it will only be able to come to a complete standstill in between 500 m and 1 km. There is no way that the train driver will be able to prevent a coalition,” says Harris.
“The train driver would never have been able to continue with the train on a tar road. So irrespective of what the investigation of the Railway Safety Regulator (RSR) will indicate as a cause, we can state for a fact that the railway crossing was ignored,” Harris said.
