BOARD OF INQUIRY

Wairarapa Times-Age, 2 November 1940, Page 4

BOARD OF INQUIRY

DERAILMENT OF LIMITED EXPRESS PERSONNEL ANNOUNCED , BY MINISTER. BROAD ORDER OF REFERENCE. (By Telegraph—Press Association.) WELLINGTON, This Day. The personnel of the board of Inquiry which is to investigate the circumstances of the derailment of the Auckland-Wellington Limited express train between Amokura and Mercer on the morning of Monday, October 28, was announced last night by the Minister of Railways, Mr. Sullivan. The members of the board are: Sir Francis Vernon Frazer, Wellington. Mr. F. W. Furkert, C.M.G., M.lnst.C.E.. M.l.Mech.E., Wellington. Professor S. E. Lamb, late professor of mechanical engineering at Auckland University. The order of reference for the board will be as follows:— (1) What was the cause of the derailment? • (2) Was any person in the employ of the Government Railways Department guilty of any dereliction of duty which directly or indirectly contributed to the derailment? (3) Generally, are there any circumstances in connection with the derailment which call for comment, particularly in respect of the rolling stock and the permanent way in the locality of the derailment? (4) What steps (if any) should be taken to prevent a recurrence of a similar derailment? Sir Francis Frazer will be chairman of the board, which is required to report to the Minister of Railways not later than November 30, 1940.

Sir Francis Frazer, who is deputychairman of the Executive Commission of Agriculture, is a former judge of the Court of Arbitration. As a stipendiary magistrate he investigated the Whangamarino railway accident 26 years ago, when three persons were killed and several injured. He was also chairman of the Board of Inquiry which investigated the derailment of the Wellington-New Plymouth excursion train near Ratana in March, 1938, when several lives were lost.

Mr. Furkert is a former engineer-in-chief of the Public Works Department, and before his retirement from that position was closely associated with the constructional side of many important railway undertakings. He was also a member of the Board of Inquiry which investigated the Ratana derailment two years ago.