Derailment

Hopefully it will be running by tomorrow afternoon as I'm in town this weekend and will be using the tube for the first time in a couple of months!

I am sure that when I first got interested in the underground (the '70's), that derailments were almost unheard of. Is that just an impression, or have they really become more commonplace in recent years?

Detraiments using a train are quicker than one that involves walking on the track - small managable groups. I helped with a 3 train detrainment, that were lightly loaded (approx 200 in total) that took 50 mins, but then we did have loads of staff and a chorus of BTP officers.

Would I be right in thinking that under new rule books, detrainments via another train don't require the input of a Supervisor anymore (not that they'd probably be any good anyway).

I was sat at home, listening to the radio.

Why would the person be left in their wheelchair? I thought they had to be carried out? Also one must realise in those situations that saving another life is far more important than taking various bits of metal with one person to preserve thir dignity.

It does sound rather crude, but yes, they would either be dragged or carried out, or left there.

Indeed - persons who are unable to de-train themselves will be assisted, or left on the train, depending on the circumstances at the time.

As for

Rule book 4 refers - if a detrainment is authorised from cab to cab (ie, one train behind another), then the train operators can do this without any further assistance. If a wrong direction movement is then needed though, then we obviously need an 'operating official' - but the detrainment can still happen prior to their arrival.

All other detainments (including to an assisting train on an adjacent line) must have a 'detrainment supervisor' present first.

The only exception of course is an emergency detrainment - that is where the train operator deems it necessary and authorises him/her self (ie, fire).

This looks rather interesting www.workersliberty.org/node/8819
Here it is copy + pasted.

Central Line derailment: Management cut corners on safety
Submitted on 6 July, 2007 - 08:52 :: Central line | LT Health & safety | Metronet

Yesterday's derailment on the Central line was in the same place as another incident just six weeks ago. On May 21, a train struck a P-way storage bin left by the track, and was lucky not to derail. Union health & safety reps complained to management and demanded an investigation. This was not the first time that union reps had complained about lineside scrap in this area. Six weeks later, no investigation, no action ... and the inevitable derailment.

This case shows clearly why union health & safety reps should have the right not just to complain but to order investigations and action. We obviously can't trust management to do so!

The apparent negligence of Metronet defies belief. This time, a bale of tarpaulin came away from a licensed storage facility in a cross passage in the tunnel between Bethnal Green and Mile End. Which begs the questions: Was the storage facility properly secured? Was it even fit to be licensed for storage in the first place?

But we shouldn't allow LUL management to pass the buck entirely to Metronet. It is responsible for ensuring the safety of its own employees, in this case the driver. Slagging off Metronet, although well-justified, is becoming a convenient excuse for LUL. And the fact is that it is the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) set-up that causes these appallling incidents, and LUL management continually urge us to "make it work" rather than urge the government to scrap it and reintegrate the Tube system.

Meanwhile, TfL big cheese Howard Collins appeared to play down the incident by saying that it was the first derailment of a passenger train for a number of years. He had to be careful to use the word 'passenger', because there have been several depot derailments; and the "number of years" he referred to is the four since the Chancery Lane crash - not exactly a era, eh?

It was fortunate that there were not more serious injuries - or worse - but for the hundreds of people on the train, and on the train stuck behind it in the pipe, it was a horrendous experience. With the country on critical terror alert, many passengers were terrified that they had been bombed. Hundreds of thousands of people have had their travel disrupted, and Tube workers have been landed with extra workload and a shedload of grief.

For staff trying to manage the disruption across the network yesterday morning, the flow of information from the company was typically poor. Station staff - responsible for getting information to passengers - found that they could get more up-to-date information from the BBC website or the Evening Standard than from London Underground! Some even found that passengers knew more than they did. This is not just embarrassing - it can become a serious problem if customers think that you are either withholding information from them or don't know what's going on.

RMT banged out two press releases within hours of the derailment. ASLEF made a statement too, but with nothing really to say about the issues. TSSA at least managed to link the incident to PPP.

Jamesb - you're right. The initial actions of the driver and from press reports a "tfl employee" no doubt eased alot of peoples worries and concerns.

However, it still begs the question why did it take 90 mins to commence the detrainment? (figures quoted from one of last nights free papers). 90 mins if it was hot could be fatal. 90 mins if you're on your way to work/ home is stressful for those involved.

Given the circumstances those on the train were no immediate danger, but not forgetting that procedures laid down state that a decision if to evacuate, should be made within 15 mins and then every 15 mins after. It was obvious that it would be impossible to move the train after the first 15 mins - so why weren't those affected evacuated then?

Perhaps it would be worth having Protection/Possesion Masters employed either directly by the Infraco or LUL, rather than all sorts of Agencies or Sub-Contractors.

At least they would have some (more open) direct sort of accountibilty.

It would be impossible nowadays to have just London Underground, it is far too fragmented, what with all the different work going on, eith PPP, Connect Radio PFI, Tunnel Cooling, Advertising, Step-free access, Power PFI, and the list goes on.

I would hope that LUL and the Infracos learn lessons from Thursday as the same thing has happened a number of times in the past few months. It has only taken a derailment to bring it to the attention of the media, public and staff.

As a lay person who has never walked along the track, I expect that a large proportion of these minor injuries are things like sprained ankles. I am not particularly sure-footed and have hurt my ankles on firm level ground with no trip hazards - ballast cannot be easy to walk on, and four rails make a great tripping hazard. Doubly so if you are wearing footwear that is less than ideal for the task - high heels spring to mind.

Well done to all involved in making it so.