Derailment of empty passenger train at Paddington causes major disruption - 16 June 2016

[whole diary]

[a-driver]

All comes down to cost.

The train came from a siding where there are catch points which are designed to derail the train. A system whereby the train brakes are automatically applied may not have stopped the train in time before it fouled another line where potentially another train could be moving

[CJB666]

All comes down to cost.

The train came from a siding where there are catch points which are designed to derail the train. A system whereby the train brakes are automatically applied may not have stopped the train in time before it fouled another line where potentially another train could be moving

Ah - cost - of course. Yes - get catch points to derail a train straight into a supporting gantry of power-lines carrying thousands of volts - just enough to cause a major fire of spilt diesel fuel. Ah - but we had that a few years ago didn't we?

It appears that lessons have not been learnt. It doesn't exactly enhance any feelings of safety when such an incident occurs - by deliberate design. I wonder what the cost for all this will be?

And I might put in a Freedom of Information estimate as to the costs to thousands of intending Heathrow passengers who have missed their flights and the ensuing consequences due to the incompetence of Network Rail / Crossrail and their contractors with regards to all of the stoppages over the last five years or so.

CJB

[ChrisB]

Some lines now open, but hourlys to Wales & Bristol & no Cheltenhams this morning

[grahame]

Some lines now open, but hourlys to Wales & Bristol & no Cheltenhams this morning

Also the Bedwyns starting at Reading.

Information in more detail:

Cancellations to services between London Paddington and Reading
Due to a train derailment yesterday between London Paddington and Reading fewer trains are able to run on some lines.
Train services running to and from these stations may be cancelled, delayed by up to 30 mins or revised. Disruption is expected until 02:00 18/06.

* Customer Advice

An empty train derailed in a siding outside London Paddington station at approximately 18:15 on 16/06/2016. This has resulted in damage to infrastructure which means that we are unable to operate a full train service between Reading and London Paddington until further notice.


Customers travelling in and out of London Paddington are advised to check travel details before their journey. Passengers may encounter delays and cancellations to services until further notice.


Great Western Railway ticket holders may travel on Chiltern Railways, CrossCountry, South West Trains, London Underground via any reasonable route in order to complete their journey. Customers seeking to travel between Reading & London Waterloo are advised that with Royal Ascot Races taking place today that they should seek to avoid travel via that route but travel via Guildford or Basingstoke instead.

Heathrow Express will accept pre-booked Heathrow Connect tickets only.
Chiltern Railways, Cross Country, South West Trains, Transport for London and London Underground are conveying passengers via any reasonable route until further notice.
Arriva Trains Wales and London Midland are conveying passengers via any reasonable route until further notice.

* Further Information
An update will follow within the next 1 hour.
Last Updated:17/06/2016 05:31

[TaplowGreen]

Network rail have confirmed it was a SPAD^▸ (Signal Passed At Danger) on their Twitter feed,

Elsewhere online reporting it was a class A SPAD whatever that is.

A Catergory 'A' SPAD (Signal Passed At Danger) is one caused by driver error.
A Catergory 'B' SPAD is caused by a signalling equipment failure where a signal reverts to danger in an uncontrolled manner and a train passes it at danger in consequence.

In that case no further discussion should be had around that element as potentially someone's lively hood at stake, it's mentioned on the above linked Twitter feed about it being a class A. 

I'd rather a "livelihood" a stake than lives if,as it seems, this is the case?

[grahame]

I would be pretty sure the RAIB^▸ (Rail Accident Investigation Branch) will be taking a look at this.

Safe to say "looks like a Class A SPAD^▸ (Signal Passed At Danger)"; surprised at stating that it IS such, or is there a shorthand in the SPAD text for "appears like"?   I know there are automatic checks for bulb failures, etc, but there remains a small 'unconfirmed' element.   I am minded of an unfortunate incident reported on here she a car was hit on a level crossing ... 'we' we quick to blame the driver but it turned out to be a signalling operation issue.

I'd rather a "livelihood" a stake than lives if,as it seems, this is the case?

Totally agreed, except it's not a comparison / tradeoff. If immediate discussion here saved lives at the cost of putting someone out of work, I would be saying "go for it".   Not sure that's what you were saying, though??

[CJB666]

No trains at Paddington due to a deliberate derailment after a driver passed a red signal - a SPAD^▸ (Signal Passed At Danger) incident; no buses / coaches / taxis laid on for passengers to Heathrow; no Bakerloo Line at Paddington due to planned engeering works for Crossrail; no buses at Paddington due to road works in Praed Street and no temporary bus stops between Sussex Gardens and Eastbourne Terrace with the drivers refusing to stop near the Station;  and no contingency plans by anyone.  Mostly owned by get rich quick foreigners. New Britain at its best - not.

[SandTEngineer]

I thought we were calmly debating this in another topic.  Job for the moderators I think.......

[Oxonhutch]

Have just seen the mess this morning coming in on 1A02. I have to admit, I have never seen so much train off so much track and the damage to the overhead is considerable with the OHL^▸ (Over-Head Line) brought down dangerously* close to the track. (* dangerous when live that was).
Opentime trains for Paddington still shows 3H52 (ECS^▸ (Empty Coaching Stock) for 1813 Henley train) at signal SN6004 and the whole of the old departure side of the station (platforms 1 - 5) closed. Looks like it will take a concerted effort over the weekend to clear that lot up. Hope the driver is OK - the cab was all sheeted over this morning.

I noticed that all local services are maximum 3 car today to make maximum use of the high numbered platforms, particularly p. 13 and many early down services west of Reading were cancelled.  Ironically, my arrival today was one of the earliest in the whole week.

[CJB666]

Information in more detail:

Customers seeking to travel between Reading & London Waterloo are advised that with Royal Ascot Races taking place today that they should seek to avoid travel via that route but travel via Guildford or Basingstoke instead.

Useless advice. How on earth are passengers going to get to / from London and Reading via Guildford or Basingstoke? At least SWT^▸ (South West Trains) trains are usually 8-10 carriages long and can accommodate hundreds unlike the FGWs^▸ (First Great Western) locals.

[BerkshireBugsy]

Some lines now open, but hourlys to Wales & Bristol & no Cheltenhams this morning

Also the Bedwyns starting at Reading.

Information in more detail:

Cancellations to services between London Paddington and Reading
Due to a train derailment yesterday between London Paddington and Reading fewer trains are able to run on some lines.
Train services running to and from these stations may be cancelled, delayed by up to 30 mins or revised. Disruption is expected until 02:00 18/06.

* Customer Advice

An empty train derailed in a siding outside London Paddington station at approximately 18:15 on 16/06/2016. This has resulted in damage to infrastructure which means that we are unable to operate a full train service between Reading and London Paddington until further notice.


Customers travelling in and out of London Paddington are advised to check travel details before their journey. Passengers may encounter delays and cancellations to services until further notice.


Great Western Railway ticket holders may travel on Chiltern Railways, CrossCountry, South West Trains, London Underground via any reasonable route in order to complete their journey. Customers seeking to travel between Reading & London Waterloo are advised that with Royal Ascot Races taking place today that they should seek to avoid travel via that route but travel via Guildford or Basingstoke instead.

Heathrow Express will accept pre-booked Heathrow Connect tickets only.
Chiltern Railways, Cross Country, South West Trains, Transport for London and London Underground are conveying passengers via any reasonable route until further notice.
Arriva Trains Wales and London Midland are conveying passengers via any reasonable route until further notice.

* Further Information
An update will follow within the next 1 hour.
Last Updated:17/06/2016 05:31

What really surprised me about this was there was no mention of it on the morning BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) breakfast local news travel update.

[trainer]

What really surprised me about this was there was no mention of it on the morning BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) breakfast local news travel update.

There was on BBC Wales opt out in the Breakfast programme at 8:30.

[TaplowGreen]

I got the 0624 from Taplow this morning, on time but only 3 coaches, quite surprising in the circumstances......packed to the gunwhales from Hayes, hardly anyone could get on at Southall which caused a lot of friction on the platform (no sign of any staff, driver had to get off and sort the doors), set off from there about 10 mins late, additional stops at Hanwell/West Ealing futile in the context of anyone being able to get on........I await this evening with trepidation.

[TaplowGreen]

I would be pretty sure the RAIB^▸ (Rail Accident Investigation Branch) will be taking a look at this.

Safe to say "looks like a Class A SPAD^▸ (Signal Passed At Danger)"; surprised at stating that it IS such, or is there a shorthand in the SPAD text for "appears like"?   I know there are automatic checks for bulb failures, etc, but there remains a small 'unconfirmed' element.   I am minded of an unfortunate incident reported on here she a car was hit on a level crossing ... 'we' we quick to blame the driver but it turned out to be a signalling operation issue.

I'd rather a "livelihood" a stake than lives if,as it seems, this is the case?

Totally agreed, except it's not a comparison / tradeoff. If immediate discussion here saved lives at the cost of putting someone out of work, I would be saying "go for it".   Not sure that's what you were saying, though??

The Press this morning are stating that it was caused by a train going through a red signal due to Driver error and are citing Network Rail as their source.

[a-driver]

All comes down to cost.

The train came from a siding where there are catch points which are designed to derail the train. A system whereby the train brakes are automatically applied may not have stopped the train in time before it fouled another line where potentially another train could be moving

Ah - cost - of course. Yes - get catch points to derail a train straight into a supporting gantry of power-lines carrying thousands of volts - just enough to cause a major fire of spilt diesel fuel. Ah - but we had that a few years ago didn't we?

It appears that lessons have not been learnt. It doesn't exactly enhance any feelings of safety when such an incident occurs - by deliberate design. I wonder what the cost for all this will be?

And I might put in a Freedom of Information estimate as to the costs to thousands of intending Heathrow passengers who have missed their flights and the ensuing consequences due to the incompetence of Network Rail / Crossrail and their contractors with regards to all of the stoppages over the last five years or so.

CJB

It is by deliberate design.  Catch points designed to derail trains are usually found coming out of sidings because of the low speeds involved.  If you had a rake of carriages or wagons in that siding, and for some reason, they started to roll away, catch points and deliberately derailing the runaway vehicles would be the only way to stop the movement.  TPWS^▸ (Train Protection and Warning System) would be totally ineffective.

In the derailment yesterday, if TPWS was installed on that signal there is a possibility it won't have stopped the train in time before it fouled another line potentially causing a collision with another train. 

As for the wires coming down, this happens quite often with electric trains.  In fact I've had wires carrying 25,000 volts laying on top of my train before and I'm still here to tell the tale.  The risk to any passenger yesterday was minimal.