QUBE runaway incident: company warned of danger in 2023

MEDIA RELEASE                                                                       

9 July 2025

The Rail, Tram and Bus Union (RTBU) NSW Locomotive Division has expressed serious concern following a Qube-operated steel train breaking free on Sydney’s northern suburbs at the weekend, an incident that could have ended in catastrophe had a passenger train been nearby.

The Union has confirmed it had raised safety concerns about the operation of Qube trains on the Sydney Trains network, including the steel train service as early as 2023, both with Qube Logistics and the Office of the National Rail Safety Regulator (ONRSR).

“Our members raised concerns about unsafe operating practices involving steel trains on this corridor two years ago. We formally escalated those concerns with the regulator and Qube at the time. We had received reports that Drivers not qualified on the routes were used when there’s shortages, and of Qube trains entering the Sydney Trains network without the permission or knowledge of Sydney Trains to try and speed up their journeys,” said Farren Campbell, Locomotive Divisional Secretary.

The train, reportedly weighing over 4500 tonnes and stretching more than a kilometre, broke apart near Eastwood in the early hours of Sunday morning. The rear wagons, laden with steel coils, hurtled uncontrolled in reverse for nearly two kilometres before stopping near Meadowbank station, crossing out-of-control through several stations on the T9 passenger line.

“Had this occurred at different time, with a commuter service in the vicinity, we could be mourning dozens of lives today. That a train of this size and weight could break apart and run uncontrolled through metropolitan Sydney is an indictment on Qube’s risk controls, but it is ultimately a failure by ONRSR who continues to relax regulatory settings in NSW and is actively unwinding the safety measures put in place following the Granville Disaster.”

A Qube steel train also derailed in 2022 near Casino.

Mr Campbell warned these incidents could become more frequent if the National Transport Commission’s current proposal to give the safety regulator a productivity mandate is implemented.

“Productivity does not sit comfortably with a safety regulator. These are fundamentally conflicting objectives.”

The RTBU is demanding full transparency from both Qube and the regulator, and has called for an immediate review to ensure the outcomes of the Granville Inquiry are being properly implemented and not quietly dismantled.