Bus on the line at Gala 08/12/19

Hagbard Celine · 8 Dec 2019

Breaking news from the Borders Railway.
(Picture from Border Telegraph). No word on any casualties but no trains between Tweedbank and Gorebridge.

Picture from Railscot in daylight from the same location.

I have to go to Edinburgh tomorrow. Rail replacement bus or bus replacement train?

RailUK Forums

ExRes · 8 Dec 2019

One person 'checked over at the scene' but not taken to hospital, I guess the passengers on rail replacement buses will be delighted to hear that it's because of a bus on the railway, should give them some confidence for their bus trip anyway

edwin_m · 9 Dec 2019

Benefit of hindsight perhaps, but that looks like a location that should have been assessed for crash barriers under the programme a few years ago to reduce risks of road vehicle incursion.

Hagbard Celine · 9 Dec 2019

The

edwin_m said:
Benefit of hindsight perhaps, but that looks like a location that should have been assessed for crash barriers under the programme a few years ago to reduce risks of road vehicle incursion.

The line wasn't built then!
But it should have been assessed as part of the design process, though I'm still puzzled as to how anyone would crash there.

All cleared up now and apart from a couple of cancellations this morning trains running normally again.

JamesT · 9 Dec 2019

Hagbard Celine said:
The

The line wasn't built then!
But it should have been assessed as part of the design process, though I'm still puzzled as to how anyone would crash there.

From the photos the bus has gone straight on instead of following the road round, some sort of steering or suspension failure? Or trying to avoid someone doing something stupid coming the other way?

Whisky Papa · 9 Dec 2019

JamesT said:
From the photos the bus has gone straight on instead of following the road round, some sort of steering or suspension failure? Or trying to avoid someone doing something stupid coming the other way?

Involved in a collision (or trying to avoid one) on the roundabout that is on the A7 just to the left of the photo would be my first thought?

edwin_m · 9 Dec 2019

From the photo, a vehicle could take the straight line instead of the (admittedly gentle) curve of the road, perhaps misled in the dark and following the platform wall as it diverges gradually from the kerbline. If they miss the sign they have nothing but a non-structural fence to prevent ingress via what appears to be a gentle downward slope. The object on the OP photo that could be a bollard is revealed on Google maps to be a small electrical cabinet at the back of the footway.

tsr · 9 Dec 2019

I don’t know the cause of the accident, but the relevant bus operator apparently runs various local routes, so I’d be surprised if the driver didn’t know the road.

matchmaker · 9 Dec 2019

Driver has been charged by the police.

fegguk · 9 Dec 2019

DunsBus · 9 Dec 2019

I knew they were asking for extra seats on the line, but I didn't think that it would happen in the literal sense.

Spartacus · 9 Dec 2019

A better pic here: https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/bus-horror-near-galashiels-station-21054224

https://i2-prod.dailyrecord.co.uk/incoming/article21054239.ece/ALTERNATES/s810/0_JS200818718.jpg

Name on the front of the bus: Goofy!

And the operator has a history of going off-road https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/hanging-thread-dramatic-photo-shows-9037767

Hanging by a thread: Dramatic photo shows bus teetering on edge of Jedburgh river
Eyewitnesses reported seeing the bus striking several walls before crashing into the parapet of the Duck Row Bridge in Jedburgh.

Bus on the line at Gala 08/12/19

Hagbard Celine

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