In recent weeks, there has been another string of high-profile derailments of crude oil trains in the USA and Canada, with the resulting fires and explosions contributing to heightened public awareness. Any railway professional hearing reports of spectacular derailments, wherever they occur, will immediately have a string of questions. Was anybody killed or seriously injured? How long will it take to clear up the mess? How many customers will be lost to rail as a result? What caused the derailment? And more importantly, could it have been prevented? Australia's heavy haul railways have for many years been considered as world leaders in engineering and operations, especially the Pilbara iron ore lines. But according to the doyen of Australian railway research Dr Stephen Marich, the industry is still dominated by 'slow learners' who don't understand the benefits of R&D and therefore don't invest enough.
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