[2] An appeal heard in the Supreme Court of Western Australia set aside the original conviction and Westrail was awarded $23,000 in costs.
The collision illustrates the hazard of having passing loops only just long enough to hold the two trains.
If the loop had been longer, the safety distance from the red departure signal to the fouling point with the arriving train would have been larger and the other train would have cleared the single line section, so avoiding the collision by some vital seconds.
Since the collision, the passing loop at Hines Hill has been lengthened for longer 1,800 m trains.
The extra distance provides both a safety margin and allows a train entering the loop to clear the single line at a higher speed.