{"id":630815,"date":"2026-10-14T23:18:16","date_gmt":"2026-10-14T23:18:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/630815\/"},"modified":"2026-10-14T23:18:16","modified_gmt":"2026-10-14T23:18:16","slug":"wellington-train-passed-red-light-before-hitting-concrete-block-taic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/630815\/","title":{"rendered":"Wellington train passed red light before hitting concrete block \u2013 TAIC"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Wellington passenger train that derailed and crashed into a concrete block<\/a> earlier this year, injuring six people, passed a red light signal before being diverted onto a runaway track, an interim investigation has found. <\/p>\n

The Transport Accident Investigation Comission (TAIC) today released its preliminary findings into the June 6 crash near Khandallah Station<\/a> on the Johnsonville Line. <\/p>\n

The two-car Metlink train was travelling south towards Wellington when it struck a large concrete block at 33km\/h, causing significant damage. <\/p>\n

Both crew members on the train were taken to hospital, while four of the eight passengers on board suffered minor injuries. Buckled seats and extensive damage<\/a> were visible inside the train carriage after the crash.<\/p>\n

\"Collision<\/p>\n

Collision location on runaway track south of Khandallah Station. Source: TAIC (Source: Supplied)<\/p>\n

According to the TAIC’s findings, the train was diverted onto a runaway line after a signalling system detected the track ahead was occupied, but it failed to stop before hitting the concrete block. <\/p>\n

TAIC chief investigator of accidents Louise Cook said investigators were still working to establish<\/a> why the signalling system detected that the track ahead was occupied.<\/p>\n

“We are still verifying evidence and pursuing several wider lines of inquiry including why the red danger signal was passed,” Cook said. <\/p>\n

The TAIC is appealing for witnesses after a Metlink train derailed on the Johnsonville Line on Saturday, injuring six people and leaving the line closed indefinitely. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n

Warnings appeared before crash<\/p>\n

The interim report revealed the signalling system had detected a possible track occupancy issue earlier that evening, while the train was travelling north towards Johnsonville.<\/p>\n

At about 6.50pm, the system registered what was known as a “dropped track”, causing it to interpret a section of railway as occupied. <\/p>\n

This prompted the system to detect what appeared to be multiple trains in the same section of track, generating an error message on the train controller’s screen. <\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The interim report revealed the signalling system had detected a possible track occupancy issue earlier that evening. (Source: Breakfast)<\/p>\n

The warning remained visible for 25 seconds but did not trigger an audible alarm to alert the controller.<\/p>\n

Although the message disappeared when the train entered Khandallah Station, the system continued to register the section of track south of the station as occupied by another train. <\/p>\n

As a result, signals controlling access to that section of track remained red, and the track automatically set to divert approaching trains onto the runaway line. <\/p>\n

The passenger train continued to Johnsonville before beginning its return journey towards Wellington at about 6.58pm. It arrived back at Khandallah Station seven minutes later. <\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The derailed train remained on the tracks as investigations continued on Sunday. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n

Safety system failed to activate<\/p>\n

At about 7.05pm, the train manager checked passengers were clear of the doors before signalling that the train was ready to depart Khandallah station to Box Hill station. <\/p>\n

A green light and audible alarm in the driver’s cab confirmed the doors were closed and the train manager had given the go-ahead to leave. <\/p>\n

As the train left the platform, it passed the red signal at around 7.06pm and was diverted onto the runaway line, triggering the emergency brakes.<\/p>\n

Despite the emergency brakes being activated, the train continued.<\/p>\n

Two seconds later, it passed a trackside safety device designed to automatically apply the brakes if a train passed a stop signal. However, the train’s trip lever, which was supposed to activate the braking system, failed to engage.<\/p>\n

The train then lost power when it disconnected from the overhead lines, before crashing into a concrete block at the end of the track at 33km\/h.<\/p>\n

\"Buckled<\/p>\n

Buckled seats and extensive damage was visible inside a Wellington train carriage after it crashed into a concrete stop block near Khandallah Station over the weekend. (Source: Supplied)<\/p>\n

According to the TAIC’s report, no emergency alert was received by train control following the collision. <\/p>\n

Instead, passengers and nearby residents contacted emergency services, who subsequently notified train control of the crash.<\/p>\n

Investigation remains ongoing – TAIC<\/p>\n

The crash prompted the closure of the Johnsonville Line, with replacement buses brought in while investigators and recovery crews worked at the scene.<\/p>\n

Investigators examined the crash site and gathered evidence including the train’s onboard data recorder, signalling logs, CCTV footage and train control communications.<\/p>\n

TAIC said its investigation remained ongoing, with further evidence being examined to establish the circumstances and causes of the crash.<\/p>\n

A final report would be released later, outlining the commission’s findings and recommendations. <\/p>\n

The morning’s headlines in 90 seconds, including the most divisive issues this election, and the country\u2019s best sausage. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Wellington passenger train that derailed and crashed into a concrete block earlier this year, injuring six people,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":630816,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1081,111,43,139,69,112,52],"class_list":["post-630815","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-accident","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-transport","tag-wellington"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/630815","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=630815"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/630815\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/630816"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=630815"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=630815"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=630815"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}