(December 9, 2010)

Wheel bearing failure resulted in seven train derailments and two trackside fires around New Zealand between October 2007 and October 2008, a Transport Accident Investigation Commission has found.

The commission began its investigation after a train derailed in Huntly in October 2007, and consequently found over the next year 12 express freight trains had wheel bearings which failed.

Seven of the failures resulted in wagons derailing, causing a number of following wagons to derail.



Twice molten metal from the failed wheel bearings started fires in trackside foliage and across adjacent land.
No one was injured but the derailments caused extensive damage to rolling stock.

The commission said it could not conclusively determine the reason for the wheel-bearing failure because the bearings had usually failed catastrophically, destroying the evidence.

It recommended Land Transport New Zealand urgently address the safety issue as the rail network was not equipped with an acoustic bearing monitoring system compatible with current international practices.

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