The Glenbrook rail accident occurred on 2 December 1999 at 8:22 am on a curve east of Glenbrook railway station on the CityRail network between Glenbrook and Lapstone, in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales, Australia. Seven passengers were killed and 51 passengers were taken to hospital with injuries when a CityRail electric interurban train collided with the rear wagon of the long-haul Perth-to-Sydney Indian Pacific. Overview The Indian Pacific train was authorised to pass a red signal at Glenbrook and stopped at the next signal, also red. The driver alighted to use the lineside signal telephone to call the signaller for authority to pass the signal at danger; as a component of the phone was missing, he incorrectly believed it to be defective. A delay of approximately seven minutes resulted despite the locomotive having a radio (at that time it was not a procedure for the National Rail Corporation to use a radio to contact signal boxes). The interurban train restarted with authority after stopping at the red signal at Glenbrook and collided shortly after with the rear of the Indian Pacific train waiting at the second failed signal. Several factors were involved, from equipment breakdown to poor phrasing of the safe working rules: the most important was that the interurban picked up too much speed and the driver was not able to see the rear of the Indian Pacific around a sharp curve in a deep cutting in time to avoid a collision. This is essentially equivalent to a blind corner. Visibility The track was curved to the left, the train was using the left-hand track, the driver was sitting on the left side of the train, and the track was in a narrow rock cutting. These four factors contributed to less than average visibility. Inquiry A Commission of Inquiry headed by Justice Peter McInerney investigated the accident. Causes The Commission found that the accident occurred after a power failure disabled two consecutive automatic signals: due to their fail-safe design, both exhibited danger (red). Both trains obtained permission from the signalman at Penrith to pass the first signal at danger. The driver of the Indian Pacific obeyed the rule requiring him to proceed with "extreme caution", but the driver of the interurban train failed to do so and caught up with the Indian Pacific. The Commission found fault with a number of procedures, their application by railway