tsr
Established Member
Regarding the incident in this thread (I believe), SouthEastern are to be prosecuted by ORR for breaching H&S legislation - see this article.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-sussex-17744655
A rail company is to be prosecuted after a passenger train allegedly overshot a station in East Sussex by almost two-and-a-half miles.
The Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) said it had launched a criminal prosecution against Southeastern.
The firm faces charges under health and safety law.
The London to Hastings train is alleged to have travelled through Stonegate station at 50mph on 8 November 2010 and failed to stop.
No-one was hurt and there was no damage.
The Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) said it failed to stop as there was "almost certainly" no sand in the sandhoppers which help the train brake.
The first hearing has been scheduled for 24 May at Sevenoaks Magistrates' Court in Kent
That more like failing to stop than overshotting.
....Given as how it did absolutely definitely overshoot, I wonder why they feel the need to say "allegedly".
The RAIB reported on this last year. The unit had run out of sand and not been refilled, because the maintenance regime failed to spot it and deal with it.
Group standards required that a train must not enter service with the hoppers empty, yet the train preparer or driver could not physically check it (at the time).
It's worth reading the report to see how what appears to be a simple thing to check can go wrong despite all the computers, automatic data communication etc, etc.
http://www.raib.gov.uk/cms_resources.cfm?file=/111117_R182011_Stonegate.pdf
If the driver attempted to brake before the station, I'm sure it is an overshoot, if they didn't it would be failed to call.
You're quite right. If the Driver makes no attempt to stop then the train has failed to call, if an attempt to stop is made but some or all of the train misses the platform, then it is an overshoot. Thought this particular one must be at the extreme end of the scale I would think!
How on earth do you overshoot by 2.43 miles?
How on earth do you overshoot by 2.43 miles?
Rail.co and as an extension jcollins must be pretty behind on news - the last two news items posted have been a few weeks late...
Very pleased to see them mention that the driver continued using step 1 initially n the brake and had no adhesion related problems before returning to the company brake policy of step 2 initially and having problems again. We have always said that step 2 causes more slip problems in the leaf fall but management have always insisted that they are right. A 377/375 etc will slip on a dry day if put straight into step 2!
Over on the TOC I drive for; we're instructed to make our initial brake application step 2 or equivalent (stock dependant) and adjust as appropriate. The sanders will not automatically operate when a wheel slide is detected in brake step 1 on our 455s or less than 50% braking on our Desiro stock.
Rail.co and as an extension jcollins must be pretty behind on news - the last two news items posted have been a few weeks late...
Very pleased to see them mention that the driver continued using step 1 initially n the brake and had no adhesion related problems before returning to the company brake policy of step 2 initially and having problems again. We have always said that step 2 causes more slip problems in the leaf fall but management have always insisted that they are right. A 377/375 etc will slip on a dry day if put straight into step 2!
How on earth do you overshoot by 2.43 miles?
Because the computer takes the brakes off, to keep the wheels round
Er, no. The WSP releases the brake and then re-applies it because a locked wheel exerts almost no braking effect, which is why this train slid for 2.43 miles. It's just like ABS on a car.
Step 1 braking is less likely to induce a slide, but if you do slide in step 1 you don't get any auto-sanding or other assistance. Step 2 works well, even if you do zero the speedo and get lots of WSP activity, because the system actually does a reasonable job of getting the train stopped. Plus you get the full benefit of the on-train systems.
Personally I've always been dubious of using every increasing brake pressures under low adhesion conditions if you look like over-running a platform. If it's going to slide disastrously in step 2 you're hardly likely to get the thing stopped in emergency. However, I know what the policy is and what my boss will expect to see on a download if I happen to go sailing past, so into emergency it will go.
O L Leigh