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Derailment in the Bromsgrove area (24/03/2020)

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Llama

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Firstly, I set no expectation on when this information should be shared. I’m happy to wait for the relevant authorities to conduct their investigations and brief out their results.

But, secondly, one of my depot colleagues near enough shat himself inside out after having the cab door ripped off by the blunt end of a Cl66; an outcome that, had the Shed gone a few more inches to the side, could have been so much more serious. Therefore I don’t consider that it’s unreasonable to want to know if something could have been done to have prevented it.

...with respect.
Nightmare incident. Could've been a lot, lot worse but luckily wasn't, only by sheer chance. Hope your mate recovers ok.
 
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Chris M

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I'd be interested to know about the precise chronology of this incident. I would hope that the driver of the loco got an emergency call out immediately he knew he was off the road. The shunt spur does not have additional clearance to the running line so there was always the risk that the loco would be foul.
We assume the loco had a driver onboard to get the REC out.
Comments I've seen elsewhere suggest that there was "not enough time to stop the job" between the derailment occurring and the 170 passing. The source claims to be a mate of the DMU driver but I have no way of verifying that or otherwise assessing the reliability of their comments. They make no mention of whether of not there was anybody on board the loco.
 

Dai Corner

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https://www.gov.uk/government/news/passenger-train-collision-with-a-derailed-locomotive-bromsgrove

RAIB said:
At about 22:43 hrs on Monday 23 March 2020, a 3-coach class 170 passenger train, operating the 21:05 Cardiff Central to Birmingham New Street service, was approaching Bromsgrove station when it collided with a class 66 locomotive that had become derailed at the end of a siding. The passenger train suffered significant damage along the side of all three vehicles, although it remained on the track and did not derail. There were 4 passengers and 2 crew on board the passenger train and none reported any injuries.

The locomotive had just travelled from Bescot to Bromsgrove, to act as a banking locomotive required to assist heavy freight trains up the 1 in 37 Lickey incline to the north of the station. It derailed as it ran through the buffers at the end of the siding adjacent to the mainline, and stopped with its front left corner foul of northbound trains. The driver of the locomotive was not injured in the collision, although the locomotive suffered damage to the corner of the leading cab.

Our investigation will identify the sequence of events which led to the accident. It will also consider any factors relevant to operation of the locomotive, how the risk of overrun within the siding was controlled and any relevant underlying factors.

Our investigation is independent of any investigation by the railway industry or by the industry’s regulator, the Office of Rail and Road.

We will publish our findings, including any recommendations to improve safety, at the conclusion of our investigation. This re
 

185

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Coming from the south side, the XC driver will have had a blind, gentle left hand bend, then the start of that siding only comes into view quite briefly.
 

edwin_m

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Anyone know how long the unit will be out of service for? Losing one 3-car must cancel out most of the expected benefit from XC getting some new centre cars.
 

TheEdge

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Anyone know how long the unit will be out of service for? Losing one 3-car must cancel out most of the expected benefit from XC getting some new centre cars.

How long is a piece of string?

If it's mostly dramatic but only cosmetic damage then not too long. If it needs bodywork patching maybe a fair bit longer, if there is significant chassis damage or deformation it could be years if not a write off.

170204 spent over a year at works after Roudham.
 

ainsworth74

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The RAIB report into this one has now been published (coming in thick and fast at the moment!!) you can find it here. The summary is below:

Summary​

At about 22:44 hrs on Monday 23 March 2020, the 21:05 Cardiff Central to Birmingham New Street service collided with a class 66 locomotive that had derailed at the end of a siding, south of Bromsgrove station. The passenger train suffered significant damage along one side of all three vehicles, although it did not derail. There were four passengers and two crew on board the passenger train and none reported any injuries.

The locomotive had just arrived in the siding and was to act as a ‘banking’ locomotive, assisting heavy freight trains up the 1 in 37 Lickey incline, to the north of Bromsgrove station. It derailed after running through the buffer stop at the end of the siding and came to rest fouling the main line. The driver of the locomotive was not injured in the collision, although the locomotive suffered damage to the corner of the leading cab.

The driver did not stop the locomotive before it reached the buffer stop because he became distracted from the driving task by personal issues arising from the national COVID-19 lockdown announced earlier that evening.

The collision occurred because there was insufficient time between the locomotive derailment and the passenger train’s arrival for the alarm to be raised and the passenger train to be stopped.

Recommendations​

RAIB has made one recommendation to Network Rail to review its processes and standards for managing buffer stop collision risk on non-platform terminal tracks.

RAIB has also identified three learning points for drivers, relating to compliance with mobile phone policies in the driving cab, informing signallers of accidents and safe exit from trains during an incident.
 

TheEdge

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New report everyday. We're going to start getting reports for incidents that haven't happened yet.

What an absolute fool.

I'm sure his childcare problems are sorted now he's permanently at home with a P45 and mobile to keep him company.
 
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2HAP

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Paragraph 50 of the report is incorrect.

When the driver started work on 23 March, he had just seen the Prime Minister’s announcement of the COVID-19 lockdown (paragraph 27). He had also had a telephone discussion with a family member about the impact of the announcement on childcare arrangements (paragraph 28). These arrangements had relied on support from other family members which would be prohibited under lockdown.

Children were permitted to move between different households for childcare reasons during lockdown
 

TheEdge

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Paragraph 50 of the report is incorrect.



Children were permitted to move between different households for childcare reasons during lockdown
This incident started within an hour of the PMs announcement. From what I recall it took a day or so for the full rules and details to come out.
 

Tom Quinne

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New report everyday. We're going to start getting reports for incidents that haven't happened yet.

What an absolute fool.

I'm sure his childcare problems are sorted now he's permanently at home with a P45 and mobile to keep him company.

No need for such pleasure, it seems to be shown to this poor blokes life.
 

ainsworth74

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Paragraph 50 of the report is incorrect.



Children were permitted to move between different households for childcare reasons during lockdown

This incident started within an hour of the PMs announcement. From what I recall it took a day or so for the full rules and details to come out.

Yes I took it to mean what the driver thought he was going to be dealing with rather than what the realty ended up being. Certainly I recall that there was some confusion over exactly what things would look like!
 

30907

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Yes I took it to mean what the driver thought he was going to be dealing with rather than what the realty ended up being. Certainly I recall that there was some confusion over exactly what things would look like!
There certainly was, and the childcare issue was one of the significant ones.
 

Cynfal

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So according to the report some 66s are fitted with slip couplers for banking.

does anyone know any more about them ?
 

Dunfanaghy Rd

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So according to the report some 66s are fitted with slip couplers for banking.

does anyone know any more about them ?
The couplers are normal swing-head couplers. The mod is that they are fitted with an air cylinder to allow the coupler to disengage under the driver's control, with a spot light mounted above to light up the coupler. there is a control panel in the cab to operate it all. (There is also a dog-clutch arrangement to allow the normal operation of the uncoupling lever from trackside.)
Pat
 

Dave W

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Sad situation all round. I'm sure many of us can empathise with the uncertainty and probably fear the driver was feeling in the immediate aftermath of the PM's announcement in March.

Clearly, that doesn't excuse using a personal mobile whilst in charge of a moving loco. A lucky escape for all on the XC unit.
 

greatkingrat

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Paragraph 50 of the report is incorrect.



Children were permitted to move between different households for childcare reasons during lockdown
While there was an exemption for children to move between households when the parents were separated and had joint custody, there was no general childcare exemption. So if grandparents or other relatives normally helped out with childcare, then according to the letter of the regulations, that was no longer possible.
 

John Bishop

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Sad situation all round. I'm sure many of us can empathise with the uncertainty and probably fear the driver was feeling in the immediate aftermath of the PM's announcement in March.

Clearly, that doesn't excuse using a personal mobile whilst in charge of a moving loco. A lucky escape for all on the XC unit.
yes, but that’s why drivers are classed as professional and get paid the salary they do. These sorts of issues get sorted whilst in the mess room or at home, not whilst sat in the driving seat. He’s lucky he didn't derail the XC and kill someone. This incident is totally inexcusable and I’m sure he is now paying dearly for it.
 

edwin_m

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While there was an exemption for children to move between households when the parents were separated and had joint custody, there was no general childcare exemption. So if grandparents or other relatives normally helped out with childcare, then according to the letter of the regulations, that was no longer possible.
It later turned out there was an exemption, but only if your name was Cummings.
 

DerekC

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I was thinking about possible mitigations for this and it would be very possible to install a TPWS TSS (train stop) in advance of the buffers and maybe even an OSS (overspeed sensor) to limit approach speed. Obviously you would only do it at high risk locations. Has this been done anywhere outside a terminal station?
 

edwin_m

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The other option would be a sliding buffer stop. The problem with the TPWS is that even if the driver stayed just below the activation speed they could still hit the fixed buffer fast enough to destroy it.
 

Efini92

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yes, but that’s why drivers are classed as professional and get paid the salary they do. These sorts of issues get sorted whilst in the mess room or at home, not whilst sat in the driving seat. He’s lucky he didn't derail the XC and kill someone. This incident is totally inexcusable and I’m sure he is now paying dearly for it.
His actions post derailment were just as bad. Why didn’t he make an emergency call on the GSMR? 47 seconds would’ve slowed the 170 right down.
 

ainsworth74

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His actions post derailment were just as bad. Why didn’t he make an emergency call on the GSMR? 47 seconds would’ve slowed the 170 right down.

By my reading he was even standing on the open mainline looking at what had happened so then had to rush to a position of safety when the 170 arrived. Which didn't strike me as how you should react even if you don't hit the GSMR immediately...
 

Efini92

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By my reading he was even standing on the open mainline looking at what had happened so then had to rush to a position of safety when the 170 arrived. Which didn't strike me as how you should react even if you don't hit the GSMR immediately...
It didn’t say wether he did or didn’t but I assume he didn’t take TCOC’s with him either.
 

Rockhopper

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It says he complied with the rule book in what he did (apart from not changing his lights to red) - its due to be changed in December though to require drivers to contact the signaler before getting out to see whats happened..
 

Darandio

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It says he complied with the rule book in what he did (apart from not changing his lights to red) - its due to be changed in December though to require drivers to contact the signaler before getting out to see whats happened..

What? In the rulebook having a mooch around takes precedence over making a call to get the job stopped in the area?

Genuine question.
 
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