The Grayrigg accident was unique, because the Pendolino tipped over. Unless passengers are physically strapped to their seats, then even the most crashworthy and solid train would have fatalities and/or serious injuries in an accident like that. If you look at images of the Great Heck tragedy, which is similar to Southall, as the train had a head on collision with a freight train also, the MK4 coaches retained their structure much better than the MK3s.
For an example on a different type of collision, look at images of when a HST hit a tree branch (FGW) and compare it to when a Class 222 hit a steel crane in Leicestershire last year. Both were at similar speeds and both involved contact with the upper cab area of the train. The HST ended up with the tree inside the cab, yet the 222 structure prevented the crane, which is considerably heavier than a branch, from entering the interior of the cab, and unit 222005 was back in service in no time at all.
I disagree with you on several points in your previous few posts here.
1. Grayrigg Crash- The Pendolino involved in Grayrigg crashed down an embankment and if I recall correctly the fatality occurred in the leading driving trailer because the vehicle was turned end to end, throwing the passengers around inside. A similar crash occurred at Forteviot in 1982 involving a Class 47 and MK2a and d coaches. Admittedly the speed was slightly less (70mph if I recall) but the loco took the brunt of the impact and the passenger compartments on all coaches remained intact despite most of them crashing down an embankment (as happened at Grayrigg), so despite the carnage there were no fatalities. Had the Pendolinos been designed with power cars like the HST with no passengers in the leading vehicle it's highly probable nobody would have died at all.
2. Colwich Junction- At Colwich, which you mentioned in a previous post, not a single passenger died (sadly one of the drivers did perish) but the coaches involved (a mixture of MK1, 2f and 3 stock) stood up remarkably well to the impact. Yes 2 of the MK3's from the Liverpool train sustained very heavy body and frame damage but it was a very violent head on collision and if you look at the photos the passenger compartment (although twisted off true in one of the vehicles) actually stayed intact on both coaches.
3. Ladbroke Grove- At Ladbroke Grove, a 120mph+ combined speed head on crash, although one of the FO coaches was engulfed by the ensuing fire, the main passenger compartment remained structurally intact on this vehicle, as it did with all the other HST vehicles involved. The body of the Class 165 leading car failed catastrophically which led to the vast majority of the deaths and the fire that took other lives on the HST, so the MK3 design was not at fault here.
4. Southall- At Southall, the reason why one of the coaches buckled on the HST was because a) it was weakened by heavy impact damage and gouging all the way down its right side from striking the freight wagons and b) the front end of the coach was pinned under a wagon that had impacted an electrification mast and as a result got trapped between the wagon and the buffet car. As a result of those 2 factors the coach buckled but all other coaches (despite heavy impact damage on a few of them) remained structurally intact. There is a documentary posted online from the late 1990's which pieced together how the collision progressed and how the coach structurally failed.
For the Ufton Nervet crash, I'm not sure what caused the buffet car to fail structurally like it did and I will need to research that one more. It's highly probable that it was affected by impact damage on the side of the coach that collapsed and got pinned or compressed by the coaches behind in a similar way to the Southall crash. But regardless, the MK3's have an excellent crash safety record overall. Hopefully we never see a serious crash on a Meridian or Voyager but the jury is still out for me on their crashworthiness, especially in a head on collision.
One point to close on- I remember another crash involving MK3's at similar speed to Grayrigg. A train of MK3 sleepers derailed at 95mph on the Morpeth Curve. The passenger compartments on all the sleeping cars remained intact and only 2 injuries were sustained (minor ones at that).
So to say that the MK3's have a poor record is not true in my mind. They were well designed when they were built and for me they are overall a better design than the vast majority of the subsequent coaches and multiple unit saloons that have followed them (including the Voyager and Meridians in my opinion).
), the mark 3s were complimented on their structural integrity and the ability of the buckeye couplers to keep the carriages upright and in line. The idea posted on the previous page that an HST might just fold up as soon as it comes into contact with a unit is laughable.
