Train involved in fatal crash in Wales ‘entered wheel slide when braking’ | Rail transport

Rail investigators imagine a prepare concerned within the first head-on collision within the UK this century, which killed a passenger in his 60s, “might have entered right into a wheel slide when braking”.

An additional 15 individuals have been handled in hospital after the collision between the Welsh villages of Talerddig and Llanbrynmair on the largely single-track Cambrian line.

It seems that the prepare that ought to have stopped was unable to take action – however the collision was gradual sufficient that neither prepare derailed.

Leaves on the road on this closely wooded space is one avenue of investigation. Community Rail spends hundreds of thousands clearing foliage from tracks throughout the autumn months – relating to leaves because the equal of black ice on roads.

Community Rail confirmed its leaf-busting rail head therapy prepare had operated on the traces as scheduled on Sunday.

The Rail Accident Investigation Department (RAIB) mentioned preliminary inspection of the monitor “discovered proof that wheel-rail adhesion was comparatively low, suggesting that the prepare might have entered into wheel slide when braking” and that will “be an space of ongoing investigation”.

The crash investigators may also study the prepare’s knowledge recorder and analyse knowledge from the railway’s signalling and radio methods. The Cambrian line was used because the pilot for the introduction of digital signalling and prepare management methods which might be designed to scale back the possibility of human error.

Elwyn Vaughan, an area Plaid Cymru councillor, mentioned: “There are devoted passing locations. The norm can be one prepare parks there, and the opposite passes. The elemental query is: why that didn’t occur?

“There are a few theories. One component is there’s a brand new digital system to cease trains. So did that work, have been there any points with that?

“And the opposite one is, after all, leaves on the road, as a result of there’s a steep incline right here. There’s a deep reduce into the rock face right here and a gradual incline, so as soon as a prepare begins sliding it could proceed in the direction of the underside.”

It’s believed that some passengers suffered damaged bones, though police mentioned their accidents weren’t believed to be life-changing.

One rail insider who mentioned he had seen the management centre incident log of the crash claimed the prepare travelling west from Shrewsbury to Aberystwyth went right into a 22mph slide. It had apparently been signalled to tug into the Talerddig loop however hit an space of “contamination”, in all probability leaves, and slid again out of the loop on to the road and into the trail of the opposite prepare.

Passenger Jonah Evans, 25, mentioned: “There was a prepare that was stopped and the opposite prepare couldn’t cease. And the driving force couldn’t get out the best way with a prepare in entrance.

“The driving force ran in and sat on a chair and mentioned brace yourselves, we’re about to hit a prepare. Somebody misplaced their tooth, cracked ribs. As a result of the driving force instructed us it was occurring, we might sort of prepare.”

Anthony Hurford, who had been travelling to Shrewsbury, instructed the BBC: “The phrase that retains coming to my head is simply brutal actually. Simply going from, I don’t know the way quick we have been going, perhaps 40, 50, 60mph, to nothing within the blink of an eye fixed.

“By some means my physique bent the leg of a desk and ripped it off its bolts hooked up to the wall. Out of the blue I used to be on the ground with my laptop computer strewn forward of me questioning what the hell had occurred.”

A person residing near the railway line in Talerddig described listening to a loud bang and a grinding noise as he sat down for his night meal.

Peter Carson, 67, mentioned: “The noise lasted a couple of seconds. We now have a number of navy plane going over so at first I assumed it was a airplane in hassle. I now realise it was the sound of the trains hitting the brakes.”

Earlier than the crash, Transport for Wales suggested passengers that its providers have been working at decreased speeds by way of Dovey Junction station, simply west of the crash web site, as a result of the monitor was “extraordinarily slippery”.

The Cambrian line was used because the pilot for the introduction of digital signalling and prepare management methods referred to as European rail visitors administration system (ERTMS) and European prepare management system (ETCS).

In October 2017, momentary pace restriction knowledge was not despatched to 4 trains travelling on the coastal part of the Cambrian line as a result of a failure with the ERTMS system, although no accident occurred.

Talking on the scene on Tuesday afternoon, Ch Insp Jonathan Cooze, of British Transport Police, mentioned: “Sadly, a person in his 60s has died following the collision. The circumstances resulting in his dying are at present underneath investigation.

“Whereas formal identification has not taken place, he isn’t believed to be a member of rail workers.”

In keeping with Community Rail, leaf fall on tracks each autumn can result in a slippery layer on the rail.

Fourteen individuals have been injured in a prepare collision in Salisbury in October 2021 after engineering work delayed the cleansing of rails.