1994 Waterfall rail accident

At 4:03 am AEDT, on 20 December 1994, two CityRail S sets collided with each other during a shunting procedure at Waterfall railway station, Sydney, Australia. The Two trains were empty when the first train collided with the stationary S set beside the platform. The first train hurled the second one off the tracks, and onto the platform, destroying some buildings and passenger walkways as well as the train.

Incident

In the early morning of 20 December 1994, an eight-carriage CityRail S set was preparing to leave for Sydney Central station. At the same time, another S set in a shunting neck, bound for Bondi Junction, had just finished an overnight sighting and had begun reversing into the place of the first train by shunting. The guard was communicating shunting instructions to the driver using a system of BElls. These were believed to be drowned out by a passing locomotive, and the driver, thinking that the first train had departed, kept reversing and slammed into the waiting S set, flinging its carriages into the pedestrian footbridge and other buildings, destroying them.

Just before the trains collided, the guard of the second train leaped out onto the tracks and kept running as the trains behind him violently jackknifed.

Post-incident

Immediately after the collision, all services around Waterfall were suspended for six hours after the incident, with all trains being redirected around the refuge siding to pass the incident site. Buses replaced the train services within the six hours of suspension.

CityRail declared that the train getting shunted should've left the siding at a maximum speed of and should've reversed at a slower speed.

After the collision, the McKell Avenue road bridge near the station underwent safety checks after one of its support beams were hit by one of the jackknifing carriages, bearing similarities to the Granville rail disaster.

None of the crew were hurt. The broken carriages then got towed away and got scrapped.

See also

• 2003 Waterfall rail accident – Involved an Intercity Tangara G set in the same area.
• Granville rail disaster – Involved a carriage colliding with the pillars of a bridge as well.
• Railway accidents and incidents in New South Wales – List of incidents.