Virgin Train Crash

What a nasty incident my thoughts go out to all the people and familys involved. But the good thing to come out of the incident is even at 95mph the train carrades did not break up most of the injuries were caused by people hitting objects in the carrages etc

The focus is now on the track, as there is a set of points in the area and the pictures this morning show that there has not been a serious front-end impact.

Fascinating if it is, because it was the London Midland, the only one of all the old companies, that refused to allow facing* points on main running lines. It complicated shunting and reversals (to the extent it was a nightmare at times) but it was inherently far safer. One just wonders if the derailments at both Potters Bar and Upton Nervett would have been avoided if only trailing* points were allowed on main (high speed) running lines.

* en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facing_and_Trailing

With you all the way on that - just not practicable with today's (cheapened in some cases) track layouts. Thank goodness some of the single-leads are being taken out, the safety cost of them now being perceived as being too high.

The lack of visible damage to the carriages is quite incredible. Just look at the one standing on its end on the embankment - it looks almost fresh out of the works! Imagine if that had been a Mark 1 coach...

I must say that I am (at last) impressed with the press handling of the event, and with all the measured comments by NR, BTP, even Richard Branson himself. No blame handed out: so much better than previously.

All that is except that despicable dinosaur Bob Crow who is once again trying to stir the brown stuff, both on safety AND renationalisation this time. I just wish he would listen to those round him who keep telling him he is dragging his union into disrepute and making them look stupid at the same time.

I will stop there before it turns into a rant but I'm sure the family of the dead woman were over the moon to hear Bro. Crow's analysis.

With respect, none of the old companies liked facing points and would avoid them in station layouts; but all of them (including the LMS and its predecessors) had facing points at branch line junctions.

Rail points checked after crash

The investigation into what caused the crash is continuing
Up to 700 sets of points across the entire rail network are being checked following the Cumbria train crash.
One woman died in the crash near Kendal on Friday evening. Eight people were seriously hurt and remain in hospital.

The investigation is focusing on a set of points which the Virgin Trains Pendolino ran across before derailing.

One rail expert said the points could have had loose nuts and bolts, and drew comparisons with the 2002 Potters Bar crash which killed seven people.

Network Rail, which is responsible for maintaining track, said engineers hoped to complete checks of between 600 and 700 sets of points by the end of the day.




How crash unfolded

The checks are being made on sections of older tracks on which trains travel above 85mph.

Points are where the line divides and the train is sent either to the left or to the right onto a different track.

Rail expert Christian Wolmar told BBC News 24 he understood the circumstances of the crash were similar to those in the Potters Bar crash.

In that crash, in May 2002, seven people died and 76 were injured when poorly maintained points derailed a train.

"From what I understand, they have found these points in a similar condition to those at Potters Bar, with some missing nuts and the stretcher bar, which keeps the rails properly apart, apparently loosened," he said.

We are devastated by the death of our Nan

Margaret Jones, granddaughter of Margaret Masson who died


Family 'distraught'

Mr Wolmar said it was up to Network Rail to ensure that the points were properly maintained and that "things like loose bolts and nuts were tightened up regularly".

He added: "But there is also the possibility that these nuts and bolts were maintained in the wrong way, or not sufficiently maintained, and that's why they were in that condition."

The chief executive of Network Rail, John Armitt, acknowledged that there might have been a points failure. He said the points were last serviced earlier this month.

CONTACT NUMBERS
Cumbria Police helpline: 0800 056 0146
Police family liaison centre: 0800 40 50 40
National Rail Enquiries: 08457 48 49 50

Police said it was "little short of a miracle" that more people did not die in the accident.

Jonathan Duckworth, chairman of the Paddington Survivors Group, told BBC Radio Five Live he was also surprised so few people were seriously hurt.

"I think that's a testimony really to the rolling stock and how design changes have made the rolling stock very much safer than it was say 20, 30, 40, 50 years ago," he said.

Relatives of the woman who died - 84-year-old Margaret Masson, of Glasgow - have spoken of their loss.

Mrs Masson's daughter and son-in-law, Margaret and Richard Langley, were hurt in the crash and are still in hospital.

Her granddaughter Margaret Jones, 41, said the family was "distraught" by events.

"We are devastated by the death of our Nan and about Mum and Dad being so very poorly," she said.

A total of 22 people were taken to three different hospitals after the accident. Dozens more people received minor injuries.



Of the eight patients who were seriously injured, five are improving while three remain in a serious condition.

The driver of the train, Ian Black, suffered a broken collar bone and a broken bone in his neck, his union Aslef has said.

Both the union and Virgin boss Sir Richard Branson said the former police officer, 46, was "a hero".

Mr Black had come around a corner, Sir Richard said, to find the line defective before the train started to leave the tracks.

"He's carried on sitting in his carriage for nearly half a mile, running the train on the stone - he could have tried to get back and protect himself but he didn't, and he's ended up quite badly injured."

Virgin Trains said the line may not reopen to passengers services until during the week beginning 5 March.

In the meantime, train services from the south are terminating at Lancaster and Preston, while train services from the north are terminating at Carlisle, and there is a replacement bus service between the two.

Passengers who intend to travel on the West Coast Main Line can check the latest information with National Rail Enquiries.

Christian Woolmar was also persistently speaking about the leading locomotive. Last time I checked, Pendolinos were EMUs and thus did not have locomotives

As was said, Bob Crow is Bob Crow. Saddened that his 'statement' was full of management this, management that. This is in contrast to the other statements from Network Rail, Virgin etc.

One refreshing thing is that we haven't got the same "don't blame us" mentality that Jarvis displayed at Potters Bar.

I hope the industry as a whole will learn from any mistakes made here and that the railways will be even safer as a result.

Our Bob stirring for his own political agenda. NEVER

With regards to risk, isn't the term called ALARP? As Low As Reasonably Practical.

Perhaps for Tom's sake I should redefine 'far safer'. It's the difference between 1-in-a million and 1-in-a billion, both absolutely tiny. And the word 'inherently' matters too - if you removed all the control mechanisms from a trailing point the likelihood is that the train would go through as normal: if you did the same with facing points......

I've had a full read of it, and the conclusion is that the immediate cause of the accident was the condition of the stretcher bars at the points.

One of the stretcher bars was missing and the bolts securing another one and the locking stretcher bar were not in place, with no evidence they had been wrenched free. There was therefore effectively no stretcher bars in place, meaning both switch rails were positioned against the stock rails, leading to a narrowing of gauge which was the immediate cause of the derailment.

I'm no engineer, but I presume that it was a case that the problem was just made progressively worse with each passing train - the straw that broke the camel's back type thing.

The last scheduled inspection should have been on the 18th of February, but this did not happen, so the last one to be carried out would presumably have been the week before (~11th), although this is not stated.
The measurement train ran on the line the day before the accident, although the data from that hasn't been analysed by the RAIB yet.