Editing Granville rail disaster (section)

==Aftermath==
The Bold Street Bridge was rebuilt as a single span without any intermediate support piers, and other bridges similar to the destroyed bridge had their piers reinforced.
[[File:Granville railway bridge.JPG|thumb|right|The replacement bridge]]

The original inquiry into the accident found that the primary cause of the crash was "the very unsatisfactory condition of the permanent way", being the poor fastening of the track, causing the track to spread and allowing the left front wheel of the locomotive to come off the rail.

However, it was found that there were other contributing factors that included the structure of the bridge itself, the condition of the track, and the condition of the locomotive.

When built, the base of the Bold Street Bridge  was found to be one metre lower than the road surface at each adjoining street. In order to bring the bridge road surface up to the same height as the street concrete was added on top to remove the difference. This additional weight, adding almost triple the originally designed weight of the bridge, significantly added to the destruction of the wooden train carriages.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-12-22 |title=Formal Investigation of an Accident on or about the Up Main Western Railway Line at Granville on 18th January 1977 |url=https://search.records.nsw.gov.au/primo-explore/fulldisplay?docid=ORGANISATIONS1005549&vid=61SRA&lang=en_US&context=L |access-date=2019-06-16 |website=www.records.nsw.gov.au |language=en}}</ref>

It was found that the track immediately prior to the curve leading into the area of Bold Street Bridge had not been maintained correctly, leading to the locomotives' wheels to push the track out of gauge, which led to the front right-hand wheel to leave the track, effectively derailing the locomotive.

Locomotive 4620 had been involved in a similar accident twelve years earlier, when it had derailed at Wentworth Falls in the Blue Mountains when operating a freight service. 4620 'jumped the tracks' as it entered the loop at the western end (country side) of Wentworth Falls platform, resulting in the entire train derailing. The cause was found to be an irregular operation of the train brake pipe. After being recovered from this accident, 4620 had the dents and scratches repaired and placed back into service.

The carriages involved were wooden bodied Supplementary Interurban Passenger Carriages, which had been converted from Country Passenger Stock by the PTC to Interurban Passenger stock. This was done by removing the previous internal arrangement of individual compartments and making the carriages an 'open plan' similar to how passenger stock is today. This left the cars with only the side and end walls supporting the roof instead of a number of internal walls bearing the weight of the roof. It is entirely possible that if the cars had been left as built, with individual compartments, then whilst the collapse of the bridge would have crushed the carriages, the internal walls could have prevented the cars from being completely destroyed, enabling passenger to survive in pockets rather than simply being crushed.

The disaster prompted substantial increases in rail-maintenance expenditure, something that had been experiencing a deficiency decline since the Second World War due to the reduction available of materials, finances, and labour forces. The [[Public Transport Commission|Public Transport Commission of NSW]] soon after the accident immediately began a systematic process of track maintenance in order to prevent another incident like this from occurring.

The train driver, Edward Olencewicz, was exonerated by the inquiry due to the exhaustive investigation into the incident.

Due to the Granville Rail Disaster and the number of victims who suffered from [[crush syndrome]] (a little understood medical condition at the time),  a number of changes were made as to how crush injuries are dealt with by rescue personnel, not only at incidents such as this, but also for smaller rescues as well.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Medical Review Seminar Lidcombe Hospital −15&nbsp;February 1977 |publisher=Granville Historical Society |date=24 October 2007 |url=http://www.granvillehistorical.org.au/Granville%20Rail%20Disaster.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031227053530/http://www.granvillehistorical.org.au/Granville%20Rail%20Disaster.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=27 December 2003 |access-date=20 March 2008  }}</ref>

On 4 May 2017, New South Wales Premier [[Gladys Berejiklian]] apologised to the victims of the disaster, in Parliament House after extensive pushing for the apology.<ref>{{Cite news |date=4 May 2017 |title=Granville: Mixed response as NSW Government apologises for Australia's worst train disaster |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-05-04/granville-train-disaster-victims-finally-get-apology/8494010 |access-date=1 January 2024 |publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation}}</ref>

After the 2023 New South Wales state election, the incoming Labor Government discovered that the previous Liberal/National Coalition Government had been deferring essential maintenance on many levels of the Sydney Trains network. It was found that some infrastructure, including track and overhead bridges, had been seriously under financed over a number of years, reducing the network to the point where another accident similar to Granville would occur. The Minns Government immediately began a review (the Sydney Trains Review) into the network which has resulted in 1,900 high priority defects and 800 kilometres of rail repaired between 3 June 2023 and 4 December 2023, leaving the project ahead of its twelve month schedule. <ref>{{Cite news|title=Sydney Rail Repair Plan|url=https://www.transport.nsw.gov.au/industry/independent-reviews/sydney-rail-repair-plan#Media_releases |access-date=26 February 2025 |publisher=Transport for NSW}}</ref>

===Memorial===
[[File:Granville Train Disaster Memorial.jpg|thumb|The Granville Train Disaster Memorial Wall]]
Families and friends of the victims and survivors gather with surviving members of the rescue crews annually.<ref>{{Cite news|url = http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/01/18/1828850.htm | publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation|date = 18 January 2007|title = Granville victims remembered |url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081001020106/http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/01/18/1828850.htm/http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/01/18/1828850.htm |archive-date=1 October 2008 }}</ref> The ceremony ends with the throwing of 84 roses on to the tracks to mark the number of passengers killed.<ref name="DT"/> In 2007, a plaque was placed on the bridge to mark the efforts of railway workers who assisted in rescuing survivors from the train.<ref name="DT">{{Cite news|url=http://www.wsfm.com.au/newsroom/40-years-on-was-the-granville-train-disaster-covered-up |publisher=WSFM 101.7 |date=18 January 2018 |title=Granville 41 years on |access-date=10 January 2008 }}{{dead link|date=June 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>

The original group, known as 'the trust', made submissions on rail safety issues, including recommending that fines for safety breaches be dedicated to rail safety improvements,<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=64391 |publisher=National Nine News |date=16 January 2007 |title=Waterfall disaster fine low: opposition |access-date=10 January 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605115559/https://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=64391 |archive-date=5 June 2011  }}</ref> and campaigning for the establishment of an independent railway safety [[ombudsman]].<ref>{{Cite news| url = https://www.smh.com.au/national/rail-safety-election-vow-by-brogden-20030118-gdg4jo.html | work = The Sydney Morning Herald | date = 18 January 2003 | title = Rail safety election vow by Brogden | access-date = 18 January 2023 }}</ref>