Runaway train derailed after 92km trip without driver in Western Australia

Australian mining company BHP has deliberately derailed a runaway train after it carried 268 wagons for 92km across the Pilbara outback.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) said the driver had left the train - which had no passengers on board but was loaded with ore - about 4.40am on Monday to inspect a wagon when it started to move.

To stop the runaway train, the company deliberately derailed it at a set of points about 120km from BHP's Port Hedland mine operations. The derailment occurred about 25 minutes later - meaning the train could have been travelling at more than 200kmh.

The ATSB is sending officers to the Pilbara to investigate after the train, loaded with ore from BHP's Newman mine site, suffered significant damage in the derailment.

READ MORE:
* Britomart train derailment cost KiwiRail $44,000
* Passengers stuck on train for three hours after crash in Auckland
* Human error as Taiwan train derails, killing 18

"The driver of a loaded ore train consisting of four locomotives and 268 wagons stopped at the 211km point," an ATSB website incident report read.

"The driver alighted from the locomotive to inspect an issue with a wagon. While the driver was outside of the locomotive, the train commenced to runaway."

The train travelled 92km until it was deliberately derailed by a control centre 119km from Port Headland about 5.05am, the ATSB site reported.

BHP Billiton has suspended all iron ore rail operations in Western Australia after the incident.

BHP's iron ore operations were suspended while the incident was being investigated, a BHP spokeswoman confirmed.

The ATSB, which is also investigating the incident, said the damage to the train was substantial.