Image: Monument Australia

Tomorrow marks the 41st anniversary of the Granville train disaster, the worst rail disaster in Australian history, which left 84 people dead and more than 200 injured.

The train was Sydney-bound from the Blue Mountains when it derailed on approach to Granville train station.

Retired chief inspector Gary Raymond was one of the first on the scene.

“It’s one of those events [that] makes an impact and an impression.

“300-odd tones of bridge went onto these wooden carriages.

“Among that carnage, we found some people who were alive and so it was a massive task then to extricate them out of that enormous situation.

“The bravery and the courage of those who were trapped under there; I’ve never seen it since.

“They were there, some of them, for 10 hours.”

A memorial service will be held tomorrow on Bold Street, just south of the bridge, at 8am.

A gong will sound for each of the 84 victims who lost their lives, with 84 roses to be thrown onto the Granville tracks.

Listen to Gary’s harrowing recount of the tragedy below