Trinder Park rail collision
1985 rail collision in Brisbane, Australia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
On 23 March 1985, two suburban trains travelling on the Beenleigh line collided head-on near Trinder Park railway station in the Brisbane suburb of Woodridge.[1] Two people were killed, including one train driver and one passenger, while a further 31 people were injured.[3]
6:48am
| Trinder Park rail collision | |
|---|---|
| |
 | |
| Details | |
| Date | 23 March 1985 6:48am |
| Location | Woodridge, Queensland |
| Coordinates | 27.62725°S 153.09984°E |
| Line | Beenleigh line |
| Operator | Queensland Railways |
| Incident type | Head-on collision |
| Cause | Disputed[1] |
| Statistics | |
| Trains | 2 |
| Deaths | 2 |
| Injured | 31[2] |
| Damage | A$788,403[2] |
Accident
At around 6:48am on 23 March 1985, an electric multiple unit (EMU) passenger service travelling northbound to Roma Street departed Trinder Park railway station.[4] As it accelerated out of the station onto the single-track section of the line, it collided head-on with an EMU travelling southbound to Beenleigh.[4] At the point of the collision, the combined impact speed of the trains was at least 80 kilometres per hour (50 mph).[2]
Two people on the southbound train – 54-year-old driver Herbert John Sheehan and 18-year-old passenger Paul Davis Cooper – were killed, while a total of 31 people across both trains were injuried.[5] The driver of the southbound train, Warren Morriss, jumped clear moments before the collision and survived.[5]
The two trains were meant to be four minutes apart, with the southbound service scheduled to be entering Trinder Park station and the northbound service pulling into Runcorn station.[5] However, the northbound service was running four minutes' late at the time.[5]
Investigation
The cause of the collision is disputed.[1] An initial investigation found the northbound train had passed a red signal (signal WR7) at Trinder Park station.[6] Pat Dunne, the Queensland secretary of the Australian Railways Union, said in a statement that the crash may have been caused by cuts to staff and maintenance, although that was dismissed by transport minister Don Lane.[6]
A board of inquiry was established following the collision, composed of three officers appointed by the Queensland Railways commissioner and three representatives elected by the company's employees.[2] It met continually from 25 March 1985 until 3 April 1985, calling a total of 34 witnesses, including surviving crew members and passengers from both trains.[2] The inquiry found that the signalling equipment, including the automatic warning system installed in the driver's cabin, was in working condition.[2]
Warren Morriss argued his northbound train had a green light to proceed down the single-track section of the line.[5] He was cleared of two charges of manslaughter by a jury in 1986.[5] In response, Lane released the findings of the inquiry tribunal, which reiterated the claim that Morriss' train passed a red signal.[5] Signal WR7, which was semiautomatic, was replaced by signal B249, which is automatic.[1] The track between Kuraby and Beenleigh was duplicated in 1995 in association with the re-establishment of the Gold Coast line.[1]
The EMUs involved, EMU 11 and EMU 27, were both repaired by Walkers and returned to service in December 1985.[7] Both remained in service until sometime between 2018 and 2025, when all EMUs were withdrawn from the Queensland Rail network.[8][9]
At the time, there were a total of 28.8 kilometres (18 miles) of single-line track on the Brisbane suburban rail network.[10] It was the first fatal rail accident in South East Queensland (SEQ) since electrification began in the 1970s; another fatal rail accident in SEQ did not occur until a woman died when her car was hit by a train at a level crossing in Wynnum West in February 2021.[11][12]