It could have been a Hollywood movie in the making. The driver of a Melbourne suburban train just thought he'd nick off to the loo at the terminus. Forgot to put the brakes on apparrently.
It rolled for 15kms and went through 12 stations before crashing iinto a stationary train on a dead-end platform at Spencer St station. Luckily no one was seriously hurt.
Melbourne train controllers had to take evasive action to prevent last night's runaway train, which reached speeds of up to 100kph, from catching up to another passenger train on the same line, it was revealed today.
Victorian Transport Minister Peter Batchelor also said the controllers had unsuccessfully tried to divert the driverless M>Train into an empty platform before it rammed into a stationary passenger train at Melbourne's Spencer Street Station.
The empty M>Train had been tracked by controllers for almost all of its 15km runaway trip from Broadmeadows before it came to a crashing halt about 9.30pm (AEDT) yesterday.
"They (the train controllers) had the ever present problem that there was a train in front that was quickly being caught up with," Mr Batchelor told reporters.
"Train paths were separated, action instructions (were given) to the train in front to move through stations without stopping."
Mr Batchelor said controllers had hoped to run the train into an unoccupied platform at Spencer Street Station where a barrier could take the impact of the collision.
Some more here
Where it went:
The result:
They have not released details whether the "dead man's handle" was functioning or not.
The whole thing sounds like my layout when I nick off to the loo, too.
It rolled for 15kms and went through 12 stations before crashing iinto a stationary train on a dead-end platform at Spencer St station. Luckily no one was seriously hurt.
Melbourne train controllers had to take evasive action to prevent last night's runaway train, which reached speeds of up to 100kph, from catching up to another passenger train on the same line, it was revealed today.
Victorian Transport Minister Peter Batchelor also said the controllers had unsuccessfully tried to divert the driverless M>Train into an empty platform before it rammed into a stationary passenger train at Melbourne's Spencer Street Station.
The empty M>Train had been tracked by controllers for almost all of its 15km runaway trip from Broadmeadows before it came to a crashing halt about 9.30pm (AEDT) yesterday.
"They (the train controllers) had the ever present problem that there was a train in front that was quickly being caught up with," Mr Batchelor told reporters.
"Train paths were separated, action instructions (were given) to the train in front to move through stations without stopping."
Mr Batchelor said controllers had hoped to run the train into an unoccupied platform at Spencer Street Station where a barrier could take the impact of the collision.
Some more here
Where it went:
The result:
They have not released details whether the "dead man's handle" was functioning or not.
The whole thing sounds like my layout when I nick off to the loo, too.