A man who dropped from a public footbridge into a Burnie rail yard was killed when the train wagons he was hiding between were shunted forward, a coroner has found.
The 36-year-old, who has not been named, died from multiple injuries at the TasRail terminal near the Burnie wharf on June 26, 2023.
Coroner Olivia McTaggart ruled the death was misadventure, describing the circumstances as “extremely rare”.
“He entered the depot as a trespasser and unbeknownst to staff members on site,” she said.
“Unfortunately, he placed himself at risk by entering into an operational rail yard and concealing himself on the tracks between two wagons.”
McTaggart found the man had most likely entered the yard intending to steal.
TasRail CCTV footage showed him on the pedestrian footbridge over the terminal at 3:52am.
The council-managed footbridge runs over the secure rail yard, which is surrounded by high wire fences, locked gates and signs warning against public access.
Within five minutes, the man climbed over the footbridge’s 1.3-metre railing and dropped 1.8 metres onto a container on a train wagon.
He then climbed down between two wagons, which the coroner described as “easily accessible” from the footbridge and into the yard.
CCTV showed him moving around the yard from around 4:02am without being noticed by staff.
At 4:37am, he moved between two wagons and disappeared from view, likely crouching to hide from nearby workers.
Staff had begun moving and separating wagons about 4am to prepare them for unloading.
At 4:56am, a locomotive shunted six wagons forward by about six wagon lengths. Each wagon was 14.5 metres long.
McTaggart found the man was crouching between two of the end wagons when they moved, causing him to fall or become trapped beneath them.
He was dragged about 20 metres and died immediately.
Staff found his body on the tracks at 5:07am. Police arrived eight minutes later.
His backpack was later found hidden nearby, suggesting he had planned to return for it.
McTaggart found the yard was operating normally and staff had followed all usual safety procedures.
“I am satisfied that staff members present could not have reasonably detected [the man] secreting himself in various parts of the yard or even anticipated that there would be a member of the public in the yard,” she said.
Toxicology tests detected methamphetamine in his system, which the coroner said likely influenced his behaviour.
He had also been discharged from the North West Regional Hospital’s mental health unit two weeks earlier, although McTaggart could not determine how much his mental illness contributed to his actions.
Lighting and fencing at the yard have since been improved, although not as a direct result of the death.
The coroner made no formal recommendations but suggested consideration be given to whether the footbridge needed additional protection.
