Oxshott accident

[Metroland]

Several people have been injured after a lorry fell from a bridge and landed on a train at Oxshott in Surrey this afternoon, Network Rail said.

The cement mixer fell from an overbridge landing on coaches of a South West Trains service in Oxshott in Surrey just after 3pm.

The spokesman said: "At around 1530 at Oxshott in Surrey the 1505 Guildford to London Waterloo service operated by South West Trains was halted when a cement mixer lorry came off an overbridge.

"The vehicle landed on some of the train's coaches of an eight-coach unit. So far, there are no reports of fatalities though it is believed there are several people injured."

A British Transport Police (BTP) spokesman said: "Police were called to the line near to Oxshott rail station after a report that a lorry had come off of a road bridge and landed on carriages of a passing passenger service.

"The incident was reported to police at 3.33pm. Officers are currently on scene, along with paramedics from the South East Coast Ambulance Service and the Surrey Fire service.

"The train involved was a Guildford to London Waterloo service."

A Surrey Police spokesman referred calls to BTP.

http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/UK...rry_Falls_Onto_Tracks_Injuring_Several_People


Edit: Only 4 minor injuries on the train, though it was lightly loaded for an 8 car set, with 40 people on.

 

[Pumbaa]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11702343
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
455 involved. No idea of unit id. Hopefully no-ones too seriously injured.

 

[jamesontheroad]

Just seen some footage on News 24. Note that the Beeb is a little slower than usual today reporting news because of the strike being carried out by one of their journalists' unions.

 

[Oswyntail]

My prayers go out to all involved. A couple of passengers seem to be in a bad way. But i wonder how quickly it will be at least partly the railway's fault.

 

[GB]

Time to get rid of all bridges and replaces them with level crossings! (sarcasm)

 

[route:oxford]

If a cement mixer drops from a height onto a train and *only* causes that level of damage, it shows how well UK railway stock is built. I'm sure if a bus had been hit from that height the damage would have been far worse.

Good wishes to those who were involved.

 

[the sniper]

If a cement mixer drops from a height onto a train and *only* causes that level of damage, it shows how well UK railway stock is built. I'm sure if a bus had been hit from that height the damage would have been far worse.

It did luckily land on the strongest part of the carriage though, the end part. I imagine the damage would have been much worse had it landed in the middle of the carriage.

And you mention buses, had this happened to a pacer...

 

[buses7675]

Hi All,

Looks like a 455/7 I think - You can see the former class 508 flat profile roof on the second coach.

It does go to show just how strong these trains are, given they are around 30 years old now? I wonder too if it has hit the former 508 coach, as that is older, would it be much weaker?

Thoughts go to all those involved

buses7675

 

[astock5000]

Hi All,

Looks like a 455/7 I think - You can see the former class 508 flat profile roof on the second coach.

It does go to show just how strong these trains are, given they are around 30 years old now? I wonder too if it has hit the former 508 coach, as that is older, would it be much weaker?

The first unit is a 455/7, but the unit that was hit looks like a 455/9.

 

[buses7675]

The first unit is a 455/7, but the unit that was hit looks like a 455/9.

Ah yeah, of course - I was convinced it was the one with the 508 coach in that was hit! Thanks for correction

 

[ainsworth74]

I wonder too if it has hit the former 508 coach, as that is older, would it be much weaker?

I would expect pretty much everything designed from around the time the Mk3 Coach was designed onwards to hold up in much the same way. Only exception to that being Pacers. If that had been a Pacer, well I dread to think really...

Speedy recovery to all involved.

 

[westcoaster]

http://plixi.com/p/55107805
http://plixi.com/p/55112022
http://plixi.com/p/55109779

Pics from on board, shamelessly copied from elsewhere.

 

[142094]

Wonder if this will mean another review of bridge safety like what happened after Selby?

 

[David]

Wonder if this will mean another review of bridge safety like what happened after Selby?

It all depends on what caused the cement mixer to go through the wall in the first place. Until the driver is questioned, and some details released, all anyone can do is speculate, and that doesn't help anyone.

 

[142094]

It says on the story that the bridge was deemed to be safe ten years ago when it was inspected, wonder what "safe" means in terms of the impact it can receive.

 

[The Gricer]

Train was the 1505 Guildford to Waterloo,UID W82198, Headcode 2G46
Unit was 5913

 

[richw]

looking at google maps etc, the bridge and approaching roads are both quite straight, and i wouldnt want to guess how a truck could come off a bridge on a straight road!

 

[GearJammer]

i wouldnt want to guess how a truck could come off a bridge on a straight road!

He may have had a blow out on the front steer, mechanical failure, fell asleep or may have swerved to avoid another vehicle..... im sure we'll find out in time.

 

[jon0844]

Time to get rid of all bridges and replaces them with level crossings! (sarcasm)

In social media terms;

Jon Morris likes this.

RT @GearJammer Time to get rid of all bridges and replaces them with level crossings! (sarcasm)

 

[Crossover]

In social media terms;

Jon Morris likes this.

RT @GearJammer Time to get rid of all bridges and replaces them with level crossings! (sarcasm)

I'll second that!

Slightly off topic but...wheres the "Like" button (or is this just a sign I use Facebook too much?)!!

 

[WatcherZero]

From what I heard the driver was blocked by traffic on the bridge and tried to turn and reverse back off it and went through the side. It would have to be a pretty strong wall to stop a cement mixer however (20-25 tons).

 

[Metroland]

It's probably proof that whatever you do, there will always be accidents of some kind with transport. For some reason we're arrogant enough as a species to think we can solve of these problems, yet have little chance of doing so without massive costs and inconvenience, which by that time we might as well all stop at home - which is one of the most risky places to be. You can minimise the risk, and that's about it.

 

[jrhilton]

looking at google maps etc, the bridge and approaching roads are both quite straight, and i wouldnt want to guess how a truck could come off a bridge on a straight road!

There is a speed limit change from 40 to 30 about 300 feet before the bridge to the west and the road then narrows, but an awful lot of people ignore it this just keep on going at 40 or more when going down the incline to the bridge.

Therefore coming from the west (which I think this cement mixer was?) you can get caught out on the bend as it isn’t designed for 40+ mph and the lane is not that wide, plus there is the bridge wall on the side and not to mention the station entrance on the other side which is a tight bend so people often take it very wide. You see a lot of vehicles coming the the west that end up a few feet into the wrong lane for this reason and sometimes have to swerve back into their lane. Also there are traffic lights to the east and often cars have to queue on the bridge as a result, speeding into the area just means trouble!

If you are a large lorry and there is another lorry on the bridge or someone is turning out of the station road (into your lane or the other lane) you could easilly be in some trouble unless you are going slow as there really isn’t much space on left hand side if you are heading east, as the footpath is on the other lane.

That is what I would suspect happened assuming no mechanical error, went round the (semi blind) bend too fast, maybe on the wrong side of the lane slightly coming out of the slight bend, or meet someone just pulled out of the station road to go east and still accelerating, cement mixer driver had to swerve, back end of the mixer kept on going due to weight, and loss of control as a result.

 

[jon0844]

So, he was speeding - or stuck in traffic. I do hope they are very thorough in the investigation as these are quite contrasting!

 

[Metroland]

Two points about the media:

Note they are calling it a 'train crash', when as really it's a lorry crash.

Note they are talking about risk assessments for all these bridges, yet I think more to the point is where are all the risk assessments for all these lorries?

I suspect several people were killed or injured this week by other lorries, yet it got no mention. Soon as a train is involved it's headline news!

Proof they is no such thing as unbiased news, and this will no doubt distort things in favour of road more, where train companies will end up paying for yet more safety to stop the actions of a minority of drivers. Isn't that the wrong way about?

 

[jon0844]

When a train hits a car on a level crossing, where it's clearly the fault of the car, I can just about accept the 'train crash' bit - given the train DID crash into the car.

However, to call a situation where a lorry falls on to the roof of a train a train crash is a little bit extreme!

 

[GB]

I read on another forum that the lorry was stuck in traffic on the bridge and attempted to turn around. I don't know how true that is so take with a copious amount of salt. I'm sure it will all come out in the wash as they say.

 

[the sniper]

There'll presumably be a RAIB report eventually, so we'll find out conclusively in 2014/2015, if we're lucky...

 

[Metroland]

Police and recovery teams are preparing to remove the wreckage of the concrete mixer which fell from a bridge onto a train at Oxshott, Surrey.

The 26-tonne vehicle crashed through a brick wall onto the Guildford to Waterloo train which was passing below.

Five of the 40 passengers travelling on the eight carriage train were injured, two seriously.

The 38-year-old lorry driver was freed from the wreckage and taken to hospital.

"His injuries don't appear to be as serious as first thought and are not life-threatening," a hospital spokesman said.

The incident happened at about 1530 GMT on Friday on Warren Road, a short distance from Oxshott railway station.
Continue reading the main story

The vehicle struck the third carriage from the back of the train punching a large hole in the metal roof.

The Conservative MP for Esher and Walton, Dominic Raab, has been at the scene of the incident.

Mr Raab said: "We will have all the inquiries and forensics conducted in the days and hours ahead, both by the police and also by the rail accident investigation branch.
Return to normal

"But we will have to wait for the outcome as to why this happened and to make sure it doesn't happen again."

It may be Monday before rail services in the area can return to normal.

The injured passengers were taken to various hospitals following the accident.

A 60-year-old passenger was taken to St George's Hospital as a "precaution". The other injured passengers were treated at Epsom General Hospital in Surrey and the Royal Surrey County Hospital.

Passenger Ade Joshua told BBC News: "In the carriage right next to us where the incident happened, there was a guy trapped with what looked like a broken back, so we were trying to console him as much as we could until the emergency services arrived.

"But we couldn't actually get through to the carriage because the door was blocked as that bit of the train collapsed."

Timi Raji, 18, who was in the carriage next to the one that was crushed, rushed to the adjoining door when the train ground to a halt following a loud bang.

He said: "The door was blocked but we could see someone was at the bottom of the carriage, trying to get out.

"The train had been crushed and the guy was trying to escape.

"He was on his stomach and we could only see his feet sticking out. My friends and I were trying to calm him down and talking to him."

Witness Nikki Karim works in a taxi office near to the crash site.

She said: "There's a lot of police at the station, there's a few minor casualties that are sat at the platform."

She added: "You don't expect this sort of thing to happen."

The incident took place on a branch line, and is unlikely to result in major disruption.

The bridge from which a lorry fell was assessed as safe in the nationwide checks made after the Selby rail disaster nearly 10 years ago.

The checks were ordered after a Land Rover came off the road and on to the East Coast Main Line in February 2001.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11704133

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Living in Epsom, I'm not far away from this location and as soon as I heard "Oxshott" I had a feeling it would be this particular bridge and I am not particularly surprised that something like this has happened.

From looking at the pictures, I guess that 71726 is a write off?