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| Police have confirmed up to six people are dead and another 52 injured after a semi-trailer collided with a V-Line passenger train at a level crossing in Victoria's north. |
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| Kerang crash probe on track as train services restart
Ari Sharp June 14, 2007 TRAINS are running again through Kerang after 400 metres of new track was laid at the site of last week's fatal collision. The Swan Hill V/Line service recommenced last night. The first train ran just hours after police conducted visibility tests at the level crossing using a train and truck similar to the ones involved in the collision. The major collisions investigations unit used four cameras to record the train and truck moving at various speeds. Details from the investigation will be used in preparing a report for the coroner. They may also be used in the case against the truck driver, Christiaan Scholl, who is facing one count of culpable driving. The testing, which involved V/Line and the Office of the Chief Investigator, was designed to check visibility at the time of the crash. Cameras were mounted on the truck, train, a police helicopter and at the crossing. Sergeant Mick Talbot, from the major collisions investigations unit, stressed that the exercise was not a re-enactment of the collision but was simply to gauge visibility. "Today was not designed to be a re-enactment," Sergeant Talbot said. "We couldn't do that, nor would we try." The highest speed of the truck in one test, 100 km/h, was chosen because of the highway speed limit, not because it was the likely truck speed on the day of the collision. The testing took place between 12.30pm and 2pm, which spanned the time of the fatal collision. Weather conditions were similar to those on the day of the crash. Police have not yet drawn any conclusions on the cause of the crash. The three-carriage train in the test was the first to pass through the level crossing since the collision. Trains will travel at 60 km/h through Kerang for the next week to help bed down the track. |
| bartdou wrote: |
| This happens often, become accustomed. |
Just let it happen? |