A train has been derailed at Kembla Grange station. The train hit a stolen car which was left on the tracks The driver was taken to hospital with spinal injuries but the 10 people on the four car double deck train received only minor injuries. The first carriage tipped over.
Kembla Grange station is a request stop but normally only used on race days at the nearby racetrack so trains are usually travelling at speed.
@Bruce - What a scary experience - thank goodness it was not worse, Bruce. Fancy anyone leaving a car on a crossing!
Whoever left the car there should be charged with attempted murder
Let’s hope they catch whoever and throw away the key…
What a stupid person to leave a car on the railway tracks 
He obviously had no value for innocent people’s lives.
Or intentionally wicked…
Definitely not the brightest. According to reports the stolen van was driven down the track from the level crossing. Also a person was seen running away after the train crashed.
According to the news the track will not be open again until the weekend because of damage to the track and overhead wires. It is only single track south of Unanderra (the next stop further north)
That is unusual, Bruce, I don’t think we have them here - how does that work?
You just tell the guard you want to get off there, There is an intercom in each carriage. It doesn’t happen often, I suspect it is mainly apprentices who don’t have an driving licence working in the surrounding businesses.
NSW Police have named someone they wish to question about the derailment.
Police are now looking for Allan Martin Simpson to come forward as he is wanted on an outstanding warrant over alleged property, traffic, trespass and theft offences.
A man has been charged with causing the train crash at Kembla Grange.
Lake Illawarra detectives today arrested a 47-year-old man in Dapto in relation to the incident.
BTW According to the police he was charged with stealing a car, two counts of destroying or damaging property, larceny, driving while disqualified, endangering safety of a person on a railway, obstruction to railway locomotive and entering enclosed land without lawful excuse.
As I understand it he was in the process of stealing a go kart from a track adjacent to the railway
I would guess that he won’t be free for a fair time.
Yes we do Tabby…There are a few branch lines where you can disembark on request and even flag down an approaching train, at the station of course… 
There are a couple of request stops by here as well. The joke is that if you are on the platform and want to get on the train, you have to stick your arm out to get the driver to stop. In practice there is an intercom and a message gets relayed to the driver.
