Runaway train travelled at high speed for 56 miles without driver after workers applied wrong brakes

Freight train with 268 cars of iron ore hurtled at speeds of up to 101mph before being derailed

A runaway freight train travelled 56 miles with no driver after maintenance workers mistakenly applied brakes to the wrong locomotive, an investigation has found.

Mining company BHP's 268-car iron ore train had to be deliberately derailed after hurtling away at speeds of up to 101mph in a remote area of Western Australia.

The crash south of Port Hedland on 5 November destroyed two locomotives, 245 freight cars, and 1.2 miles of track. No one was hurt.

The accident began after communication was lost between the front locomotive and a monitor at the rear, according to a preliminary investigation report published by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB).

This triggered an automated emergency brake, causing the train to stop. The driver also applied an independent brake and exited the cab to manually apply handbrakes to the train’s 268 ore cars, while awaiting assistance from an emergency ground crew, the regulator said.

Another empty train came to a stop on an adjacent track, before the ground crew arrived 30 minutes later and were asked by train control operatives to start applying brakes from the rear of the train and work towards the driver.

An hour after stopping, the first train's driver noticed air venting from the brakes and saw the train move forward and roll away. A number of penalty brake applications were triggered but were ineffective, the report noted.

“Four minutes later, the driver of the empty ore train advised train control the ground crew had mistakenly applied handbrakes to his train,” it added.

The runaway train, fully laden with iron ore, was travelling at 89mph an hour when it was derailed. The lead locomotives ran on for a further mile before coming to a stop, the ATSB said.

“The investigation is continuing and will look at a number of factors including the design of train braking systems used by the operator and procedures in the operator’s safety management system,” the regulator added.

BHP, which lost an estimated $55m (£30m) a day until the tracks were repaired following the derailment, said its own investigation had found the incident was due to procedural non-compliance by the driver and issues in integrating the electronic braking system with the rail network.

“Prior to exiting the cabin of the lead locomotive the driver did not apply the automatic brake handle to the emergency position as required,” said Edgar Basto, asset president of BHP Western Australia Iron Ore. If that brake had been applied the train would not have rolled away, he added.

The ATSB expects to release its full findings later this year.