Great Western Coffee Shop

A fair bit of disruption by the look of it :

Line problem in the Kennington area.
Train services between Oxford and Didcot Parkway are being disrupted due to a broken down train in the Kennington area.Short notice alterations and delays of up to 60 minutes can be expected.

Train services between London Paddington and Oxford are currently being terminated and started from Didcot Parkway.

08:55 Oxford to London Paddington due 10:30
This train has been revised.It will no longer call at: Twyford, Maidenhead, Slough, Langley, Iver, West Drayton, Hayes & Harlington, Southall and Ealing Broadway.

09:20 Oxford to London Paddington due 11:00
This train will be started from Didcot Parkway.It will no longer call at: Oxford, Radley and Culham.This is due to an earlier broken down train.

09:20 Oxford to London Paddington due 11:00
This train has been revised.It will no longer call at: Twyford, Maidenhead, Slough, Langley, Iver, West Drayton, Hayes & Harlington, Southall and Ealing Broadway.This is due to an earlier broken down train.

09:49 Reading to London Paddington due 10:42
This train has been revised.It will additionally call at: Langley, Iver and Southall.

09:55 Oxford to London Paddington due 11:30
This train has been revised.It will additionally call at: Culham.

10:19 Reading to London Paddington due 11:12
This train has been revised.It will additionally call at: Langley, Iver and Southall.

10:51 London Paddington to Oxford due 11:51
This train has been cancelled.This is due to an earlier broken down train.

Shame that Trains ever moved away from Buffers and draw gear on every train so when a train broke down the following train could push.

I've seen a failed Loco hauled 9 carriage train pushed into a station by a 2 car DMU, with a loco and 6 carriages pushing the whole train as the DMU couldn't push such a load.

You've hit on favorite gripe of mine which I may have raised elsewhere on this forum is why do we not have a standard coupler in the UK. After teh Us have buckeyes and airbarakes since 1909 or thereabouts. It's not long ago we still had Mark 1 vacuum stock on the mainline (not that there's anything wrong with the vacuum brake).

We nearly got here on the Southern with buckeyes EP brakes and standard control wires. Then the PEPS came along.

Now there are even different versions of the same make of coupler let alone different types ofcouplers.

There aren't even standard control wires, you can only couple a Turbo to 158 one way round otherwise you don't get a brake as one has 9 wires the other 8. Even though teh mechanical bit is the same.

I believe the Electrostars on the Southestern and Southern have different couplers.

Best assisstance:

73 on diesel pushing 47 and 6 from Basingstoke to Reading coupled with buckeye to last coach.

08 (REading pilot) pulling 47 and 6 from Tilehurst to Reading it went wrong line down the up relief.

Being pushed in a cross country DMU from Gloucester to Swindon with a 37 considerably faster than 70 mph,  speedo in back cab was hard on stop mark.

I used to love riding in a DMU when two units where coupled, looking through from behind the Drivers desk to the other unit.
At 70 MPH the other unit was bouncing around by about 18 inches (450mm) whilst my unit was smooth riding.



ps. Yes I know it was an optical, each unit was bouncing about.

A man who was struck by a passenger train near Oxford last night was carrying out repairs to the track, it has emerged.

An unnamed 55-year-old was hit by a service travelling to Oxford from London Paddington just before 10pm at Kennington.

His injuries were so severe that his left leg was amputated at the scene, a British Transport Police spokesman told the Oxford Mail this morning.

http://www.oxfordmail.net/display.var.2295348.0.update_rail_accident_investigation_under_way.php

From the BBC (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/oxfordshire/8366643.stm):


The full RAIB report (http://www.raib.gov.uk/cms_resources/091112_R292009_Kennington.pdf) is available on their website.

18 months for the report.  RAIB are quick aren't they?

But it is  65 pages long.

I have a copy of the

"Report on the Collision which occurred on 24th November 1960 between Ponthydrefen and Cwmavon in the Western Region of British Railways."

There were 2 deaths and 4 serious injuries.

It is 9 pages and a map, tells you everything you need to know.. It was published on 13th April 1961.

...but I bet it didn't manage to introduce a reference to Charles Dickens being involved in a rail accident (see page 31 of teh RAIB's effort)

There is a lot of process interviews and research behind RAIB reports also they may have had to wait for the final Coroners Report, any Police investigations and reports etc.

RAIB is independent of the Her Majesty's Inspector of Railways (HMIR) who used to be part of the HSE but are now part of the ORR.  The RAIB like the other Accident Investigation Branches (Air the oldest and Maritime) can only divulge details of witness if instructed to do so by a Court in the near 100 years of the AAIB they have never divulged such information. 

The HMIR can prosecute like the HSE the RAIB can not prosecute but witness are compelled by law to give evidence to them

I'm a lawyer (but a bit old-fashioned as you'll see). This splitting up of authority just produces a complete legal minefield with different accountabilities and failure to get to the root of a problem quick.

Shrink the playing field, quick.

Professionally at work I would freely talk to the RAIB but would more coy talking to the HMIR although both are done under caution

As the Death by Health & Safety website says

Read About It Belatedly  :(

The Act that set up RAIB requires reports as soon as possible and normally within 12 months.  they are regularly in breach of that requirement.

Not strictly true - there is a get out clause, with the 12-month limit only applying "in normal circumstances" whatever they are, which I guess would allow for them to do justice to a particularly complex investigation. And it would appear, judging by the more recent clutch of reports emanating from RAIB that they seem to be getting their act together in terms of publishing within 12 months.

Finally, let's not stick the boot in too much - the RAIB is an infinitely better system (and, it would seem, much better trusted by rail staff who are therefore prepared to co-operate without risking incriminating themselves) than the festivals of finger-pointing, mud-slinging and blame apportioning presided over by certain previous administrations at the BTP and HSE.

You are right that there is a get out clause, but that only applies to unusual circumstances.  The 12 month deadline applies in almost all cases.

I agree that the system is infinately better than the previous one.  BTP and HSE were both awful and did alot of damage. 

And its good to see them speeding up, but I don't think they are where they should be yet.

To be fair, in the past few weeks, the RAIB have published four reports, as follows:

Kennington Junction - incident happened on 23 May 2008, report published (http://www.raib.gov.uk/publications/investigation_reports/reports_2009/report292009.cfm) on 12 November 2009;

Dalston Junction - accident involving a railway track worker on 30 March 2009, report published (http://www.raib.gov.uk/publications/investigation_reports/reports_2009/report302009.cfm) on 19 November 2009;

Eden Valley loop - incident happened on 4 July 2009, report published (http://www.raib.gov.uk/publications/investigation_reports/reports_2009/report312009.cfm) on 19 November 2009;

Bayles & Wylies footpath crossing - involving the deaths of two pedestrians on 22 November 2008, report published (http://www.raib.gov.uk/publications/investigation_reports/reports_2009/report322009.cfm) on 19 November 2009.

From the BBC (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-berkshire-18212732):