BBC - 18 injured in 'low impact' Plymouth train crash

[Noel]

BBC - 18 injured in 'low impact' Plymouth train crash

 

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-devon-35954361

[Maitland]

I road terms, the kind of accident that wouldn't even make the parish newsletter.

[Warbonnet]

Crashes in Philadelphia and Thailand too. Bad day for the railways...

[DiveController]

The Philly crash is pretty odd, two guys in an excavator that was hit by the train, possibly hit the boom, details unclear. The video of the Thailand crash is like deja vu, no care taken by driver to cross the double line, brakes at last moment but front of bus already impinging onto the second line. Three dead and if any more of the bus had been on the line it would probably been all on board

[Mayner]

The Philly crash is pretty odd, two guys in an excavator that was hit by the train, possibly hit the boom, details unclear.

 

Incidents involving excavators and other hi-rail vehicles is a major issue on railways where routine maintenance like rail-distressing and sleeper replacement is carried out between trains.

 

In recent years Kiwirail had a number of serious near misses and an incident where a digger was struck by a freight and the digger driver seriously injured. http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/72133343/kiwirail-ordered-to-pay-110000-to-man-hit-by-train

 

Poor planning and control of possessions and Dispatcher (CTC signaller) work load appeared to be a common thread with protection removed and trains signalled through worksites before the line was clear or incidents where the dispatcher mistook the location of the train or hi-rail vehicle (usually SUV or light commercial vehicle with rail wheels used as gangers trolley for track or signal inspections)

 

IE does not seem to be immune to this sort of thing and was investigated by the RAIU for 4 possession breaches in one week in 2012 fortunately without injury http://www.raiu.ie/download/pdf/trend_investigation_possession_incidents.pdf

Edited April 5, 2016 by Mayner

[DiveController]

That was an awful accident, John. Basically the poor guy is a vegetable with a profound traumatic brain injury. The settlement amount imposed on KiwiRail by the court is actually very small despit being the highest ever granted. While we laugh regularly about H&S and the need still-capped boots etc., there are times when it does need to be adhered to and these are the instances where it seems to be more frequently ignored.