Thetford train crash

[Gav]

Now if this doesn't take the pish then I don't know what does, offering a passenger who was on the train a £4 refund on their £51 ticket for the journey!

http://www.edp24.co.uk/news/passeng...ed_4_refund_on_51_ticket_by_abellio_1_4511047

 

[holywell farmer]

Now if this doesn't take the pish then I don't know what does, offering a passenger who was on the train a £4 refund on their £51 ticket for the journey!

http://www.edp24.co.uk/news/passeng...ed_4_refund_on_51_ticket_by_abellio_1_4511047

sick that is shows how greedy rail companies are

 

[deere66]

Tractor driver cleared in Knaresborough train crash

http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/144...l_rapped__tractor_driver_cleared/?ref=mr&lp=3

 

[llamedos]

RAIB report summary.

RAIB has today released its report into a collision between a train and a tractor at Oakwood Farm User Worked Crossing, Knaresborough 14 May 2015

Image showing damaged tractor after the collision (courtesy of BTP)
Summary
On 14 May 2015, a passenger train collided with a tractor at Oakwood Farm user worked crossing near Knaresborough, North Yorkshire. The train was carrying 66 people and travelling at 65 mph (105 km/h), but did not derail. The collision caused the front of the tractor to become detached from its cab. The tractor driver suffered minor injuries, and the train driver was treated for shock. However, in different circumstances the consequences could have been much worse.

The tractor driver began crossing the railway after the illuminated warning at the crossing started to display a red light. Oakwood Farm user worked crossing is one of a small number in the country that had been fitted with remotely operated, powered gates. It is likely the tractor driver did not recheck the warning lights after first stopping on the approach to the crossing to press a button to open the gates. This button had not originally been intended to open the gates (it should only have been capable of being used to close them). It was situated at such a distance from the crossing that the time it took for the tractor driver to stop, open the gates and then drive onto the crossing, was greater than the time between the warning light turning red and the arrival of the train. There was no sign at the button to warn the driver to recheck the warning light before going over the crossing. The investigation also found that the warning light was not conspicuous among the many signs present at the crossing.

The underlying causes of the accident were that Network Rail did not ensure that the risks at the crossing were adequately mitigated, and that the process for the introduction of the gate operating equipment was adequately managed.

Recommendations
As a result of this accident, RAIB has made three recommendations to Network Rail.

The first is to improve the safety at Oakwood Farm user worked crossing and the second is to review the safety of other user worked crossings fitted, or planned to be fitted, with the remotely operated gate opening equipment.

The third recommendation is for Network Rail to review the robustness of its processes for introducing new equipment on to its railway infrastructure.

Full report here RAIB

 

[llamedos]

Recommendations following Thetford Crash



Collision between a train and tractor at Hockham Road user worked crossing, Thetford on 10 April 2016.

At 12:30 hrs on 10 April 2016 a passenger train travelling from Norwich to Cambridge collided with an agricultural tractor and trailer on a level crossing at Hockham Road, near Thetford in Norfolk. The train was travelling at 87 mph (140 km/h) when, on the approach to the crossing, the train driver saw a tractor moving closer to the railway tracks. The train driver sounded the train’s horn and applied the emergency brake, but could not stop before colliding with the tractor. The train did not derail, but its driving cab was damaged, and the driver and four passengers suffered minor injuries. The tractor was destroyed, and its driver was seriously injured.

The level crossing at Hockham Road is on a restricted byway, and has gates which are operated by crossing users. About one minute before the collision, the tractor driver had obtained permission to cross from a signaller at the Network Rail signal box at Cambridge. The signaller had given him permission to cross when there was insufficient time before the train would arrive at the crossing. This was because the signaller had lost his awareness of the position of the train because his levels of concentration may have lapsed, and his competence to operate the workstation safely and effectively had not been adequately monitored.

A system that had been installed at the level crossing in 2012, intended to display green or red lights to crossing users to warn them whether or not it was safe to cross, was not working at the time of the accident. It had been decommissioned by Network Rail following concerns which the company had about the safety integrity of the system. This had meant that users had to telephone the signaller for permission to cross. The RAIB found that Network Rail had not come to a clear understanding with the manufacturer of the system about how the equipment met the required safety integrity level, and having assessed the risks, had decided to turn off the system while improvements were made.

An underlying factor was that the arrangements in Cambridge signal box for managing fatigue among signalling staff were inadequate.

The RAIB has made three recommendations to Network Rail. The first concerns Network Rail’s approach to managing user worked level crossings, with the intention of either eliminating the need for a signaller to have to decide whether it is safe for a user to cross the railway or providing better information for signallers when making these decisions. The second relates to the processes that Network Rail uses when introducing new signalling equipment whose operating interface differs significantly from existing equipment, and the third covers the management of the competence of signalling shift managers when they also operate signalling equipment.

R042017_170314_Hockham_Road

Published:14 March 2017

Credit RAIB

 

[JP1]

That report makes clear some pretty dire failings

Does anyone know how the tractor driver is?

 

[Philip Watkins]

Clearly lays the blame with Network Rail.