Great Western Coffee Shop

Journey by Journey => Transport for London => Topic started by: bobm on December 28, 2014, 11:36:35



Title: Trolley on track incident, Heathrow Express line, December 2014
Post by: bobm on December 28, 2014, 11:36:35
Now problems for Heathrow Express according to their Twitter feed

Quote
Heathrow Express  @HeathrowExpress 

Service still suspended after a train hit kit left on tracks by Network Rail. Working to get trains moving again ASAP #hexupdates



Title: Trolley on track incident, Heathrow Express line, December 2014
Post by: TonyK on December 28, 2014, 12:16:13
Now problems for Heathrow Express according to their Twitter feed

Quote
Heathrow Express  @HeathrowExpress 

Service still suspended after a train hit kit left on tracks by Network Rail. Working to get trains moving again ASAP #hexupdates


Poor little kit...


Title: Trolley on track incident, Heathrow Express line, December 2014
Post by: tomL on December 28, 2014, 12:17:21
http://i.imgur.com/GpcXzXE.gif ...That's all I can come up with.


Title: Trolley on track incident, Heathrow Express line, December 2014
Post by: BBM on December 28, 2014, 13:24:26
Now problems for Heathrow Express according to their Twitter feed

Quote
Heathrow Express  @HeathrowExpress 

Service still suspended after a train hit kit left on tracks by Network Rail. Working to get trains moving again ASAP #hexupdates


I wonder if it was this one, left Heathrow T1 & 3 on time, arrived PAD 144 late: :o

http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/P10321/2014/12/28/advanced (http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/P10321/2014/12/28/advanced)


Title: Trolley on track incident, Heathrow Express line, December 2014
Post by: brizzlechris on December 28, 2014, 14:25:32
This image apparently showing being the item left behind...  ::)

https://twitter.com/HeathrowExpress/status/549174321982480384




Edit note: Many thanks for posting, brizzlechris. Purely to help those using mobile devices which sometimes make it difficult to view such linked items, I've taken the liberty of adding a link here to the image shown in that Heathrow Express twitter item:

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B58MOlOCUAA-A2C.jpg)


Title: Trolley on track incident, Heathrow Express line, December 2014
Post by: TonyK on December 28, 2014, 15:10:49
Ouch! Could have been nasty.


Title: Trolley on track incident, Heathrow Express line, December 2014
Post by: Chris from Nailsea on December 28, 2014, 15:43:27
Hmm. I'd have thought the idea of painting it bright yellow was to avoid it being overlooked when clearing the worksite on completion ...  :P :o ::)


Title: Trolley on track incident, Heathrow Express line, December 2014
Post by: Electric train on December 28, 2014, 16:09:19
This image apparently showing being the item left behind...  ::)

https://twitter.com/HeathrowExpress/status/549174321982480384
Hmm. I'd have thought the idea of painting it bright yellow was to avoid it being overlooked when clearing the worksite on completion ...  :P :o ::)

Even yellow paint doesn't show up to well in the dark!

This is one half of PWay track trolley these are hand pushed.

This will be a reportable incident to the RAIB which will obviously sit separate and take precedence over the ORR enquiry into the engineering over run.


Title: Trolley on track incident, Heathrow Express line, December 2014
Post by: ChrisB on December 28, 2014, 16:19:41
The RAIB will investigate the trolley while the ORR will look into the over-run(s).

Different organisations. Likely to run side-by-side!


Title: Trolley on track incident, Heathrow Express line, December 2014
Post by: TaplowGreen on December 28, 2014, 16:22:53
I've actually managed to find a picture of the workforce that left the kit behind, captured at the exact moment they got the call about it!



Title: Trolley on track incident, Heathrow Express line, December 2014
Post by: Super Guard on December 28, 2014, 21:17:46
I've actually managed to find a picture of the workforce that left the kit behind, captured at the exact moment they got the call about it!



For anyone else that wants to understand the severity of the situation - Crossrail staff placed the trolley on the line as the HEX came towards it - all concerned were lucky no-one was killed.

A snip from the log:

"The driver is shaken and he said he does not know how he did not kill anyone..."


Title: Trolley on track incident, Heathrow Express line, December 2014
Post by: bobm on December 28, 2014, 21:20:41
Apparently the driver was just coming out of the tunnel when he saw the workers on the line in front of him. Not surprised he was shaken.


Title: Trolley on track incident, Heathrow Express line, December 2014
Post by: ChrisB on December 28, 2014, 21:22:15
Quote
For anyone else that wants to understand the severity of the situation - Crossrail staff placed the trolley on the line as the HEX came towards it - all concerned were lucky no-one was killed.

Are you serious?!! Wow.....RAIB will be investigating. Someone won't be working on the rails ever again

I can understand the "sheer incompetence" post now


Title: Trolley on track incident, Heathrow Express line, December 2014
Post by: Super Guard on December 28, 2014, 21:24:54
It's not my place to reproduce the whole log post I read, but yes I expect the RAIB will be investigating what is an incredibly serious incident.


Title: Re: Trolley on track incident, Heathrow Express line, December 2014
Post by: Chris from Nailsea on December 28, 2014, 21:53:06
As this story is now gaining in stature, so to speak: I've split off the previous posts to form this new topic, devoted to the particular incident.  CfN.  :)


Title: Re: Trolley on track incident, Heathrow Express line, December 2014
Post by: bobm on January 16, 2015, 12:44:16
The RAIB are now investigating.

http://www.raib.gov.uk/publications/current_investigations_register/141228_heathrow_tunnel_junction.cfm (http://www.raib.gov.uk/publications/current_investigations_register/141228_heathrow_tunnel_junction.cfm)


Title: Re: Trolley on track incident, Heathrow Express line, December 2014
Post by: SandTEngineer on January 16, 2015, 15:46:37
.....and a related incident nearby in the same possession that occured the previous day :P


Title: Re: Trolley on track incident, Heathrow Express line, December 2014
Post by: ChrisB on January 16, 2015, 17:04:44
The RAIB (http://www.raib.gov.uk/publications/current_investigations_register/141228_heathrow_tunnel_junction.cfm) have launched an investigation. I wondser how many heads will roll on this one?

Quote
Near-miss involving construction workers at Heathrow Tunnel Junction, west London, 28 December 2014

RAIB is investigating an incident in which a train almost struck two construction workers, and collided with a small trolley, on the Up Airport line between Heathrow Airport Tunnel and the Stockley Flyover.

The incident occurred at about 10:05 hrs on Sunday 28 December 2014 and involved train 1Y40, the 09:48 hrs service from London Heathrow Terminal 5 to London Paddington. The track workers jumped clear just before the approaching train struck a small engineering trolley that they had been placing on the line. The train, formed by a Class 332 electric multiple unit, was travelling at approximately 36 mph (58 km/h) when it struck the trolley.

The two track workers were among a large number of people carrying out construction work on the approach to a new bridge that had been recently constructed adjacent to the existing Stockley Flyover. This new structure, which carries a new railway track over the mainline from London Paddington to Reading, was built as part of the Crossrail surface works being undertaken by Network Rail.

To enable this work to take place, parts of the operational railway in and around the construction site had been closed for varying periods during the few days before the incident. The two construction workers were unaware that the Up Airport line had returned to operational use a few hours before they started to place the trolley onto this line. They formed part of an eight person workgroup which included a Controller of Site Safety (COSS). The COSS and other group members were not with the two track workers at the time of the incident. The presence of temporary fencing, intended to provide a barrier between construction activities and the operational railway, did not prevent the two track workers accessing the open line.

Network Rail owned the infrastructure at the site of the accident and had employed Carillion Construction as the Principal Contractor for the construction works. The two track workers and the COSS were all employed by sub-contractors.

RAIB^s investigation will establish the sequence of events, examine how the work was planned, how the staff involved were being managed and the way in which railway safety rules are applied on large construction sites adjacent to the operational railway. It will also seek to understand the actions of the people involved, and factors that may have influenced their behaviour.

RAIB will also consider whether there is any overlap between this incident and the factors which resulted in an irregular dangerous occurrence at the same construction site on the previous day. This occurrence involved a gang of railway workers who walked along a line that was open to traffic, and without any form of protection, until other construction workers warned them that the line was open to traffic.

Our investigation is independent of any investigations by the safety authority or the police. We will publish its findings at the conclusion of the investigation. This report will be available on our website.

(http://www.raib.gov.uk/cms_resources/Heathrow%20Tunnel%20Junction.jpg)



This page is printed from the "Coffee Shop" forum at http://gwr.passenger.chat which is provided by a customer of Great Western Railway. Views expressed are those of the individual posters concerned. Visit www.gwr.com for the official Great Western Railway website. Please contact the administrators of this site if you feel that content provided contravenes our posting rules ( see http://railcustomer.info/1761 ). The forum is hosted by Well House Consultants - http://www.wellho.net