Freightliner off the rails at Eastleigh.

[whole diary]

[stuving]

Further down the linked article the following appears (my bolding):

“We now understand the cause of the derailment. A small number of
fastenings holding the track to the rail gave way causing
track spread and the two rails were pushed apart.”

I thought track and rail were synonymous?    Can anyone expand on what he might mean?

Paul

It was explained on TV as being a bolt (though it must have been several) holding a chair to a sleeper.

[bradshaw]

This is a photo taken from one of NR^» (Network Rail - home page) Wessex’s Twitter feed. It shows some of the fixings at the site
(https://twitter.com/networkrailwssx/status/1224221638654406657?s=21)

[stuving]

This is a photo taken from one of NR^» (Network Rail - home page) Wessex’s Twitter feed. It shows some of the fixings at the site
(https://twitter.com/networkrailwssx/status/1224221638654406657?s=21)

I take that to be damage caused by the derailed wagons, which must be "downstream" of the original derailment site where, we are now told, there was gauge spread due to missing or broken chair bolts.

[SandTEngineer]

Interesting to note that NR^» (Network Rail - home page) were aware of the gauge spread on those points as you can see at least three gauge tiebars and the identifying X painted on the sleepers: https://t.co/WT6UZQzkUw?amp=1

[SandTEngineer]

RAIB^▸ (Rail Accident Investigation Branch) Investigation announced: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/freight-train-derailment-at-eastleigh?utm_source=5564eb3b-e575-4c28-aa70-c16ca59187fb&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=govuk-notifications&utm_content=immediate

Freight train derailment at Eastleigh, Hampshire, 28 January 2020

Published 10 February 2020
From: Rail Accident Investigation Branch

At around 11:31 hrs on 28 January 2020, a freight train derailed on a set of points just south of Eastleigh station. The train was travelling at about 12 mph (19 km/h) at the time, and was running from the down slow line, through a crossover which led to the down fast line. The locomotive became partly derailed and then re-railed itself, and some of the wheels on four of the following five wagons also became derailed, causing significant damage to the track in the process. The driver stopped the train before the remaining 25 wagons reached the damaged track. Nobody was injured, but the track and signalling equipment was severely damaged and there was extensive disruption to services on the south western main line for the following six days.

The RAIB’s preliminary examination found that a series of rail fastenings, intended to maintain the correct distance between the rails, had broken. Initial evidence suggests that some of these were already broken before the derailment. Consequently, as the freight train passed over the points, the rails moved apart and the train wheels dropped into the space between the rails.

Our investigation will identify the sequence of events which led to the incident. It will also consider:

the design and installation of the rail fastenings

the industry’s response to previous problems identified with the fastenings during their service life

any underlying factors

[SandTEngineer]

Some photographs of the track replacement work, on the Cornwall Railway Society website, down the page here: http://www.cornwallrailwaysociety.org.uk/latest-input--news--old-pictures-etc

[paul7575]

Some photographs of the track replacement work, on the Cornwall Railway Society website, down the page here: http://www.cornwallrailwaysociety.org.uk/latest-input--news--old-pictures-etc

For anyone who hasn’t picked up on it from other forums, they’ve actually only repaired half the defect, the route from P3, (the Portsmouth loop), to the down main is still not available.   AFAICT^▸ (as far as I can tell) that doesn’t lose too much functionality, but it still isn’t 100%.   

Probably another short notice weekend closure still to be decided...

Paul

[stuving]

RAIB^▸ (Rail Accident Investigation Branch) published their report into this incident today.

The cause was fractures in the "shoulders" that hold the track fastening clips, which were not picked up during inspections mainly because the breaks were out of sight inside the sleeper, and the shoulders still in place. The track inspection trains would have detected the resulting deflection, except for the fact that they didn't travel over this crossover: there are bound to be some bits of trackwork left untraversed. Not easy, PW^▸ (Permanent Way) inspection, is it?

One unusual feature was that PW staff were inspecting track right next to this location at the time, and:

25 The train had reached 12 mph (19 km/h) as it arrived at the crossover. The front bogie of the locomotive passed over the switch rails5 (figure 5) of 450A points without incident. As the locomotive passed over the closure rails,6 the lateral forces it exerted (see paragraph 78) caused the rails to spread apart, and the failure of additional fastenings (figure 5). This caused all of the locomotive’s wheels to drop into the now-widened gap between the rails and to derail. One of the fastenings flew out as it failed and almost struck one of the infrastructure maintenance staff.

Was that a "learning point" for someone?

[stuving]

There's been another of those big ol' engines (59205) come off the track in Eastleight Yard. I heard about it on the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) local news at lunchtime, where they also said it wasn't affecting passenger services (hence I thought not worth a new thread). Someone was on hand to take some pictures, I think from the road bridge and the station (so the train is in the LHS^▸ (Locomotive Hauled Stock) sidings). 

[stuving]

I know it wasn't in the way of much, but taking five or six days is still on the leisurely side. I guess that's mainly because they rerailied the loco on the next track across. All the wagons bar one still being worked on are moved too, and you can see the track they were on is a bit wobbly. That's presumably why it was not suitable for rerailing onto.

[paul7575]

I suppose given the location there was absolutely no urgency required? 

I think there’s quite a wide fan of parallel sidings there that possibly meant they could operate fairly normally around the problem, so I’d be assuming they didn’t work 24/7 on this problem?

Paul

[RichT54]

Is this another freight derailment at/near Eastleigh today?

Disruption between Fareham and Eastleigh

What's going on
Due to a low speed derailment in a depot between Fareham and Eastleigh the line towards Eastleigh is blocked. Train services running through these stations may be cancelled, delayed or revised. Disruption is expected until the end of the day.


What We're Doing About It
We have been informed of a low speed derailment of a freight train within a depot between Fareham and Eastleigh. This means that the line towards Eastleigh is blocked and trains are unable to call at Botley and Hedge End when travelling towards London. From approximately 09:30 trains will also not call at Botley and Hedge End when travelling towards Portsmouth.

Until further notice the following alterations will be necessary:
Trains from Fareham to Eastleigh will be diverted via Southampton Central and may not call at some other stations
From approximately 09:30 trains from Eastleigh to Fareham will be diverted via Southampton Central

To assist you with your journey your ticket will be accepted, at no extra cost to yourself, on the following services:
Xelabus routes X4 and X9 in the affected area

We have arranged replacement buses to run on the following routes:
Fareham - Eastleigh in both directions (ETA 08:30)

For further information or onward travel advice please speak to a member of staff or use a station help point.

We are very sorry for any delay that this may cause to your journey.

[paul7575]

Is this another freight derailment at/near Eastleigh today?

Disruption between Fareham and Eastleigh

What's going on
Due to a low speed derailment in a depot between Fareham and Eastleigh the line towards Eastleigh is blocked. Train services running through these stations may be cancelled, delayed or revised. Disruption is expected until the end of the day.


What We're Doing About It
We have been informed of a low speed derailment of a freight train within a depot between Fareham and Eastleigh. This means that the line towards Eastleigh is blocked and trains are unable to call at Botley and Hedge End when travelling towards London. From approximately 09:30 trains will also not call at Botley and Hedge End when travelling towards Portsmouth.

Until further notice the following alterations will be necessary:
Trains from Fareham to Eastleigh will be diverted via Southampton Central and may not call at some other stations
From approximately 09:30 trains from Eastleigh to Fareham will be diverted via Southampton Central

To assist you with your journey your ticket will be accepted, at no extra cost to yourself, on the following services:
Xelabus routes X4 and X9 in the affected area

We have arranged replacement buses to run on the following routes:
Fareham - Eastleigh in both directions (ETA 08:30)

For further information or onward travel advice please speak to a member of staff or use a station help point.

We are very sorry for any delay that this may cause to your journey.

From the description I think that’s the south loop exit from the traction depot, that feeds in on the up side alongside the very south end of the works, just before the double track Botley line is singled for the approach to the junction.  (Over simplified in the 1980s, IMHO^▸ (in my humble opinion).)

[bradshaw]

Photo from NR^» (Network Rail - home page) Wessex on Twitter, looks like it might have fallen foul of the trap point (circled)

https://twitter.com/networkrailwssx/status/1503663668986265603?s=21

[paul7575]

Following the Twitter link there’s now a photo of the loco, and I agree it’s leaving south yard - the works is visible on the left. 

So that casts some doubt on the original report, it’s not the traction depot entry/exit, although that might have been the eventual destination.  I also can’t fathom why the effect on the Botley line was then different for up and down traffic…

Then NRES^▸ (National Rail Enquiry Service) reckons up and down trains are being diverted via Southampton Central, but I doubt that’s correct, as the times being reported on RTT^» (Real Time Trains - website) don’t allow for that to have happened.

When the Botley line is blocked they usually reverse the trains at a shunt signal on the lines just south of St Denys alongside the river.