Killed train driver’s letter of warning days before fatal crash

It has been revealed the train driver killed in last week’s crash at Wallan raised safety concerns in the weeks before the tragedy.

John Kennedy and his co-pilot died when the XPT carrying more than 150 passengers left the tracks north of Melbourne on Thursday night.

His friend, Clive Williams, has shown The Age an email where the 54-year-old told of his concerns about the state of the rail network.

On February 3, Mr Kennedy wrote that his last six Melbourne return trips had been very late or cancelled, mainly due to train fault issues.

Mr Williams has told The Age that Mr Kennedy said he “half expected to be derailed the first few times he went to Melbourne” because of the violent sideways movement on some sections of the track.

The Sydney to Melbourne route has since been described as a “goat track”, with the line and speed of the train at the time of the crash a focus of the ongoing investigation.