Great Western Coffee Shop

Train derails as it departs London Paddington station

Passengers had to be evacuated from a train after it derailed while leaving Paddington station in London.

The rear power car of the Great Western Railway train partially left the track as it departed for Penzance in Cornwall shortly before midday.

A spokesperson for the rail firm said it was "travelling at extremely low speed" and no injuries were reported.

Platforms one and two are currently out of use while Network Rail investigates what happened.

The passengers on board were transferred to another service and other trains leaving the station are running to their original timetables.

It is the second time a train has derailed at a major London station in a week.

On Tuesday, a South West train left tracks after it hit a barrier train at Waterloo station causing major disruption for commuters.

On the same day, a Great Northern train crashed into buffers as it arrived at King's Cross.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-40991544 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-40991544)

Well, they say these things come in threes.......Waterloo, Kings X and now Paddington.

Not the first derailment of this type in the platforms.  Probably caused by road-spread.  Look at the number of tie-bars holding the rails to gauge ::) :P

Bit of moderator intervention required as we are already discussing this derailment here: http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=14689.2115 and here: http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=18610.0   ::)

The guy on the platform with the backpack wearing the blue safety helmet doesn't look to me if he is wearing safety boots.

Network Rail photographer?

UN observer?

UN observer?

Blue hard hat normally indicates someone who does not hold Personal Track Safety (PTS) or is still under observation.   The other cardinal sin is the rucksack obscuring the HiVi.



The Drive would also be aware something was not right but I expect it was the Guard / Train Manager who stopped the train.
Pigeon welfare officer ? (prevention of sudden death by explosion dept.)

The Drive would also be aware something was not right but I expect it was the Guard / Train Manager who stopped the train.

Indeed I expect you're right.  In the case of a DOO or DCO operated service that might well not be so easy to do.  An example where having a guard on the train provides an additional level of safety?

You can buy a sensor that detects a derailment, and applies the brakes, from Knorr-Bremse (the EDT101 derailment detector). It's clearly aimed at the American market, with its huge length of track that's very rough (by our standards) but still used for freight.

Not the first derailment of this type in the platforms.  Probably caused by road-spread.  Look at the number of tie-bars holding the rails to gauge ::) :P

Driver Controlled Operation.  That, along with DOO means the driver is solely responsible for despatch.  Most people refer to DCO when there is guaranteed to be a second member of staff on the train (who plays no role in despatch), and DOO when there is not, though the two terms are sometimes used to mean the same thing.

The Night Rivera sleeper has retention toilets.  It's the HSTs which are the problem. 

I doubt that either Hi Viz or safety boots are required if the person pictured remains on the platform.
AFAIK platform 1 remains open and most of the passengers wont be wearing PPE.

If he was "at work" then orange PPE is required and if working within 1.2 m of the platform edge then PTS and a COSS is required, however in this case the platforms would have been be under possession an ES and PICOP would also be needed. Network Rail would have supplied the track safe system of work for the break down (re-railing) team

That guy may have been part of the Channel 5 film crew filming Paddington: Inside the Railway. They've been hanging around for a few weeks now and been present when the service has gone into meltdown.

Thanks. I was aware of DOO but not DCO.

Admin: Perhaps these terms could be added to the Acronyms list?

Thanks for the info.  Is S&C another one for the acronym page? :)

Good to hear.  IIRC there used to be access to more of the platforms until the layout was rationalised?

The Royal Oak Sidings are being relayed to allow IET sets to stable there between turns.

Possibly, yes, but can you ask CfN nicely as I have already asked him to do some other changes today and I don't wish to entail the 'Wrath of CfN' twice in the same day...... ::) :P ;)

.....just out of interest as well, older hands used to also refer to S&C (Switch and Crossings) as P&C (Points and Crossings), so thats two new acronyms in one day.  I'll fetch my tin hat and run.....

Done!

This accident demonstrates the importance of:

 - making sure that once work to renew longitudinal timbers has been identified as being necessary, it should be given an appropriate priority

 - routine visual inspection of longitudinal timbers should take account of defects identified in previous detailed examinations

 - when consideration is being given to prioritising project activities over remedial maintenance work, the risk of infrastructure failure is taken into account