The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) has announced it will be conducting full investigations of all passenger and freight rail networks from January next year.

 

The announcement comes after the Bureau was granted increased investigative powers through the passage of the Transport Safety Investigation Amendment Bill 2012, giving powers to State and Territory ministers to request the ATSB to conduct investigations in their jurisdictions. Previously the Bureau was restricted to conducting investigations on defined interstate rail networks.

 

The ATSB is fresh from a recruitment drive of new rail investigators over the past 12 months and will conduct a series of no-blame investigations over 2013.

 

“Our interest is in improving safety, not in allocating blame,”  Bureau Chief Commissioner Martin Dolan said.

 

“We will have succeeded if we can prevent future accidents through thorough investigation and publicising and sharing the results.”