Learn about the requirements for reporting rail safety incidents in NSW.
Rail safety in NSW
OTSI investigates NSW safety occurrences involving railway operations such as the construction of a railway and rolling stock; the management, commissioning and maintenance of rail infrastructure; and the operation or movement of rolling stock for the purposes of operating a railway service. The Chief Investigator may initiate an OTSI investigation under the NSW Passenger Transport Act 1990 .
OTSI also undertakes investigations on behalf of the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) . This is part of a collaboration agreement between the two agencies. These investigations are conducted under the Commonwealth's Transport Safety Investigation Act 2003 .
For more information, see Investigation process.
Types of rail occurrences and operator reporting
There are three categories of rail incidents and accidents which must be reported by rail operators – Category A, Category B and Category C.
Category A
Category A occurrences must be immediately verbally reported to the Office of the National Rail Safety Regulator (ONRSR) .
Category A occurrences include:
- an accident or incident that has caused death, serious injury or significant property damage
- a running line derailment
- a running line collision between rolling stock
- a collision at a level crossing between rolling stock and either a road vehicle or a person
- a suspected terrorist attack
- an accident or incident involving a significant failure of a safety management system that could have caused death, serious injury or significant property damage
- any other accident or incident likely to generate immediate or intense public interest or concern.
How to report a Category A rail occurrence
Category A occurrences must be verbally reported to the ONRSR immediately.
To make a report, call ONRSR on 1800 430 888 . You must then follow up with a written report within 7 days via the ONRSR Portal .
ONRSR advises OTSI of reported Category A occurrences in NSW via the ATSB.
Category B
The specific occurrences that must be reported are specified under regulation 57 of the Rail Safety National Law National Regulations 2012 .
Category B occurrences must be reported within 72 hours in writing only via the ONRSR Portal with additional follow-up information within 14 days.
To find out more about what should be included in the report, refer to both the ONRSR Guideline for Notifiable Offence Reporting Requirements and ONRSR Guideline for Occurrence Date Submission Requirements .
Category C
These specific occurrences do not need to be reported to the Regulator at the time of occurrence, but the data submission task for these occurrences must be completed prior to the due date for the operator’s Safety Performance Report, unless the Regulator has imposed a different reporting requirement under Regulation 57(3b)(b).
The information required to be submitted annually is defined in the Notifiable Occurrence Data Submission Requirements document.
Prescribed incidents
Prescribed incidents are those that have caused or have the potential to cause serious injury, death or significant property damage. They may be either Category A or Category B occurrences.
For information on which occurrences are prescribed incidents and require mandatory testing see the Drug and Alcohol: Requirements for Rail Transport Operators fact sheet .
How to report a prescribed incident
Prescribed incidents must be immediately verbally reported to the ONRSR. Drug and alcohol testing is also mandatory immediately following a prescribed incident.
If a prescribed incident occurs, all rail transport operators must:
- immediately call ONRSR on 1800 430 888 to report the incident
- drug and alcohol test rail safety workers involved in the incident, unless one or more of the following applies:
- the drug and alcohol testing has been conducted by ONRSR or the police
- the operator has been notified by ONRSR that drug and alcohol testing is not required
- there is a reasonable excuse for not doing so.
ONRSR will communicate with the operator to confirm as soon as possible if ONRSR is doing the drug and alcohol testing, or if the operator is required to undertake the testing themselves.
Reporting by transport employees and members of the public
CSIRS reports
If you are a transport employee and there is a safety concern within your workplace that you have been unable to resolve internally, or you feel may warrant additional investigation and/or review by OTSI, you can make a report using the Confidential Safety Information Reporting Scheme (CSIRS).
Members of the public
Members of the public can report a rail incident, or raise safety concerns and complaints directly to Transport for NSW by:
Phone: 131 500
Or online using the Transport for NSW feedback form .
The benefits of reporting
The ATSB provides operator occurrence data to OTSI. Information obtained from reported incidents enables us to help improve safety by identifying issues, patterns and trends.
OTSI analyses data from incident reports to develop strategies and practical advice for operators to help avoid similar incidents in the future.
This is vital to making the network safer for all.