[SystemSafety] Another Rail Overspeed Accident

[Peter Bernard Ladkin]

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A train derailed in Philadelphia on the Washington-NY corridor on Tuesday. People died, thankfully
not too many considering what happened to the carriages.

It turns out that the train was travelling at 106 mph on a curve for which the speed limit was set
at 50 mph.

It reminds me superficially of the Berajondo accident in Queensland, just over ten years ago (15
November 2004). The Cairns Tilt Train derailed at Cabbage Tree Creek at a speed of 112 kph on a
curve on which the posted speed was 60 kph (for the Tilt Train). As here, the driver remembered
nothing. However, at Berajondo, while there were some severe injuries, non were life-threatening
and nobody died. The train was one of two diesel Tilt-Train sets which ran from Brisbane to
Cairns. The first part of the line is electrified, between Brisbane and Rockhampton and there are
electric tilt-train sets which run on this part.

When I was visiting the ATSB in 2005 I looked at one of the bogies which they were investigating
to see if it had been defective and maybe contributed. It wasn't and hadn't.

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/may/14/amtrak-train-crash-derailed-philadelphia-victims-named

PBL

Prof. Peter Bernard Ladkin, Faculty of Technology, University of Bielefeld, 33594 Bielefeld, Germany
Je suis Charlie
Tel+msg +49 (0)521 880 7319  www.rvs.uni-bielefeld.de




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