Lionel Burke is young, single and living in a remote Queensland mining town. Life is pretty good apart from the impossible odds of falling in love. Keeping it a secret, particularly from his mates, Lionel strikes up a video relationship with Lena.

On January 18th, 1977, a crowded commuter train heading for Sydney, came off the track and struck the pillars of an overhead road bridge, crushing part of the train and killing 83 passengers and injuring more than 200 others. This story follows the coronial inquiry into the crash with flash-backs to the main story, and the efforts of the rescuers to free the injured victims.