Mr Gobbe, who has written two books on the disaster, says he has uncovered evidence that the government of the day knew the train’s wheels were faulty but rail authorities allowed it to run.
The Baulkham Hills retired ambulance officer revealed what he and researcher Vaughan Williamson uncovered at the 39 year memorial service in January.
“We always knew the train and track were faulty but until now we did not know - although I suspected - that the government knowingly allowed a faulty commuter train to run,” Mr Gobbe said.
“After my book 35 Years of Memories came out, a train enthusiast with respectable qualifications, Vaughan Williamson, came to me with data he had found.”
Official reports of the day blamed track defects for the disaster but, Mr Gobbe said, many who drove and carried out maintenance on the train knew better.
“The coroner Tom Weir was not given maintenance records and was under pressure to deliver a favourable result,” he said.
“Rail workers were gagged and still there is a sense of silence in their ranks. If the truth had come out - that the government had knowingly allowed a defective train to run, the resulting compensation claims would have bankrupted them.”
The Wran Labor government had been elected just the previous May and such a finding of culpability that led to a large loss of lives would likely have been its death-knell.
Mr Gobbe said that, even though the present state government had no connection with the disaster, a general apology would “help a lot of people heal”.
“Only a government can apologise on behalf of a previous government,” Mr Gobbe said.
“Next year is the 40th anniversary so that would be a good time for the government to look at our evidence and apologise to the survivors and rescuers.”
Granville Labor MP Julia Finn said an apology could be in order and might suggest one after she read Mr Gobbe’s evidence.
“While it is difficult for a government to make an apology for mistakes of the past - except the national apology to the stolen generations - I would like to see the current government look into these claims more.”
Ms Finn said she would be happy to press for a full investigation into the new evidence. “We need to have the experts in government look at this,” she said.
