It seems the ramifications of between Puffing Billy and a minibus yesterday are even more dire than originally thought, with a ban announced on dangling your legs outside the train announced until further notice.
General manager Nadine Hutchins told the Canberra Times that this step was necessary to ensure the safety of their passengers:
Obviously, safety is our main priority and we need to make sure we consider everything during this investigation period.
This is the first time an incident like this has happened … where a vehicle has collided with the train so we need to take every step we can to protect our passengers.
Puffing Billy, arguably Australia‘s most universally beloved trains (I cannot really name any other trains), had one carriage derailed after a minibus apparently failed to brake in time when approaching the train line yesterday.
One passenger was admitted to hospital with minor injuries, while a few others had their injuries treated at the scene.
Puffing Billy chief executive John Robinson said they were taking steps to make sure it doesn’t happen again:
Safety is of the utmost importance at our iconic heritage steam railway and we have procedures in place to mitigate further danger and to ensure the continued safety of all passengers on the railway.
Sad news indeed, that the one fun thing that it’s possible to do on a train is no longer legal. Political correctness gone mad.
