Fiery train-tanker collision sparks lawsuit

The RM360 million 'upgrade' of Sabah Railways did not take into account the width of the locomotives or the carriages.

KOTA KINABALU: The fiery train-fuel tanker collision in Sabah this week looks set to ignite a series of suits against the state government for endangering the public.

A local resident is expected to file a civil action at the High Court here seeking an order to prevent the relevant authorities from closing the scores of unauthorised crossings along the railway track from Tanjung Aru to Tenom.

The resident, a 58-year-old from Penampang, is also seeking an order directing the relevant authorities to exercise the relevant powers under the Railway Ordinance to provide adequate gating and fencing facilities along the railway track.

Lawyer Marcel Jude Joseph confirmed that he has been hired by the resident to file an application for a judicial review of the relevant authorities’ decision to close down all crossings where the railway track passes over a road, path or occupational crossing.

Fiery collision

The railway consists of a single 134km line from Tanjung Aru to the interior town of Tenom.

In Monday’s incident, 12 of the 116 train passengers were injured when the three-coach train collided with the petrol tanker near a petrol station along Petagas Road, near the Kota Kinabalu International Airport.

Two passengers suffered broken legs while a pregnant woman and nine others escaped with minor injuries.

The tanker, laden with some 27,000 litres of petrol, was turning into a petrol station when it collided with the train which was transporting some 116 people to Papar from the Tanjung Aru Train Station.

Upon impact, the first carriage derailed while the second landed on the tanker and exploded in a fireball at the crossing.

The accident prompted deputy Chief Minister-cum-Infrastructure Development Minister Joseph Pairin Kitingan to order all illegal railway crossings to be closed immediately to prevent similar accidents.

Chief Minister Musa Aman, who is away in London, also ordered a full investigation into the cause of the collision and instructed authorities to step up safety measures along railway crossings to prevent any untoward incidents in the future.

The Sabah Railway Department has confirmed that there are about 70 illegal railway track crossings between the Tanjung Aru railway station right up to Tenom and 22 gated crossings.

Its general manager Mohd Zain Mohd Said acknowledged that there was no fencing or gated crossing built at the junction to the petrol station from the main route for vehicles.

Shocking disclosure

Questions have also been raised over how the authorities had allowed a petrol station to be built so close to the railway track.

“There should be no kiosk beside the railway line for reason of public safety,” a resident told a local newspaper.

He claimed that an earlier application by another petrol kiosk applicant had been rejected but that a subsequent application by the present operator was approved by the relevant authorities despite it being clearly against the law.

Sabah Railway’s Mohd Zain said Monday’s incident had caused the department RM19 million in losses including the wrecked three-carriage train.

The department is hoping to resume the train service before the Hari Raya Haji celebration which falls on Sunday.

State Police Commissioner Hamza Taib meanwhile has called for a review of the the century-old Section 28 of the Railway Ordinance which came into force in 1914.

According to him, the review is necessary so as to strengthen the enforcement and penalties in relation to an offence involving a train, as it provides for a maximum fine of only RM50 and a jail term of up to six months.

Meanwhile, the driver of the tanker has been remanded for five days until today to assist the investigation into the collision.

The British colonial government built railway track was only recently reopened after it was upgraded for RM360 million.

Thousands of residents live across the tracks from the main road and their only access to their homes is via the illegal crossings.

Those in the know have claimed that the upgrading work was done in haste without proper planning.

Their claims were verified with the embarrassing disclosure that a few stations had been built without taking into account the width of the locomotives or the carriages.