Re: English Railway Accident

[jjjim <jjjim@bigpond.com>]

The tilt trains is push pull isnt it?

is push pull meaning the Front and rear carraiges are  Driven passanger
carriages? as oposed to locomotives at either end?

youve confused me a bit, theres a few contradictions in your post, can u
explain? pls hehe

KaMaK wrote:

> I have just read the posts on uk.railway newsgroup - while there can be no
> doubt the cause was automobile in it's genesis the consequences are out of
> all proportion. The magnitude of the destruction and carnage can be
> explained by the shear bad luck of the proximity of the crossover and coal
> train. However I believe train design is also a significant factor.
>
> I have always had deal doubts about the legitimacy of higher speed push pull
> trains - such configurations are quite common but defy safety logic. The
> survivability of 'loco first' crashes is much higher than for a light weight
> driving trailers where the mass is pushing from the rear. The UK East Coast
> Main Line electrification and speed upgrade was a political el-cheapo; the
> concept of DVTs and passenger carriages being propelled at 125 to 140 mph on
> tracks without "high speed line" intrusion protection is just a disaster
> waiting to happen.
>
> The chances of a 70t loco (XP) being lifted or pushed off the rails in any
> impact is significantly lower than a 30+t driving trailer. Generally the
> retardation capabilities of carriages are superior to locos so in an
> emergency brake application with a trailing loco the loco is going to
> continue to push down on the train making the probability of it remaining in
> line and upright significantly reduced.
>
> Lets hope that no cheap skate 'higher speed' push-pull trains are ever
> introduced into this country - and that particularly includes half XPT sets
> to Broken Hill. - Its just not worth the risk.
>
> The British experienced the risks of push-pull in Scotland about 20 years
> ago when a push-pull hit a cow and derailed at high speed with several
> deaths. A pity they didn't see fit to run top and tail locos on their higher
> speed ECML. It will be really interesting to see what comes out of this
> incident.
>
> As has been expressed in many different ways in uk.railways newsgroup -
> surely there must be severe speed restrictions places on all road-over
> bridges until their safety can be inspected and certified - remember the
> railway was there first.