A fatal train crash could have been avoided if a driver had used an emergency system designed to reduce speed, an investigation has found.
They stated it had “not occurred to them” to use their train’s manually operated sander, according to a report into a head-on collision between two trains in mid Wales on October 21 2024.
Eh?
It happened near Talerddig in Powys on a rural section of the Cambrian line, which is predominantly single track with loops to allow trains travelling in opposite directions to pass each other.Despite braking, a westbound Transport for Wales (TfW) train failed to stop as intended inside a loop and rejoined the single line too soon, crashing into an oncoming train run by the same operator.
Slippery leaves on the line was the main cause, but not the only one.
The RAIB revealed in an interim report in April last year that the westbound train’s automatic system did not work in the moments before the crash because of several failures, including blocked hoses, electrical faults and incorrectly installed plates measuring the flow rate of sand.
Oh dear...
The RAIB said a rule book for TfW drivers states they should deploy the emergency sander “when a train is unable to stop in the usual distance” and its use may avoid a collision.
But the driver – who was not identified in the report – did not recall “any training” on the system and had not previously used it, according to the report.
I tend to think that at the moment you realise a crash is inevitable, you'd be pressing/pulling anything you felt might help!
An RAIB survey of other TfW drivers after the accident “revealed a lack of clarity” about the circumstances requiring the system to be used, investigators said.
And this is the country that demands people take training courses before buying a pet rabbit.
When I did my electrical installation course in the 1990s we were given water fire extinguishers to do a practise discharge. If the first time you use one is "in anger", the wallop is unexpected and uncontrollable.
ReplyDelete"did not recall “any training” on the system and had not previously used it, according to the report."
ReplyDeleteI have no idea how long the driver in question had been driving this type of unit, but if it were me, after a few weeks on any type I would be asking "What's that knob do, what's that lever for, what happens if I press that button" for anything not shown to me, But then, I'm an engineer.
John Tee
The training for drivers is extremely thorough and since Ladbroke Grove includes simulator training. That driver will have had training. That he didn't use the sand equipment during exceptional leaf fall is the issue here and as I usually say, the failure is invariably down to human factors. The driver is the weakest link in the chain. RAIB may find that there is room to improve the training, they are highly unlikely to conclude that there was no training. There will be records.
ReplyDelete"The driver is the weakest link in the chain"
ReplyDeleteSo, eliminate that link.
Easy said. Not so easy to do. In a simple closed system like Docklands it's a design feature and works well. Our national network is a mix of the modern and the old. A driverless train coping with semaphore signalling is not a practical option and a train can travel a route that covers a range of different signalling systems so would have to be able to cope with each in turn. It might be technically feasible, but the cost would be eye-watering. Driverless trains are a fantasy. They unfeasible in the real world we currently have.
DeleteThis is a big issue in the world of truck driving too.
ReplyDeleteEvery new truck model released in the last 10 years is full of electronic wizardry, just as good car makers are sensibly doing away with touch screens for important as you are driving stuff they're become more prevalent in trucks.
Everything has changed except for one thing familiarisation training.
Back in '76 i was handed the keys to my first artic, away you go that was the sum total of familiarisation training back in the day, fast forward 50 years nothing's changed, here's the keys away you go.