2 trains collided in Washington D.C.

[diesel9]

Around 5:00 PM, two metro trains collided with each other after one of the trains brakes failed which resulted in the collision. 2 are dead and 20 others have minor injuries. The coverage for the story is still ongoing on television as we speak! More info below

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8114003.stm

 

[Euphod]

A tragic accident. Let us hope and pray no more die from this horrific collision.

And it's Metro...BTW; not to be confused with Metra...

 

[Tiger313]

Looks bad. Hopefully they'll be able to save people in that mess.

 

[scottling]

This is the first I've heard about this, but that is nothing compared to the Granville disaster west of Sydney on January 18, 1977. The basic story is that at about 8:30am, this train, a commuter known as 'The Slogger', was coming round a bend into Granville staion, near Parramatta. Somehow it came off the tracks at 80km/h (50mph) and ran into one of the supports for the Bold Street bridge, over the railway. The loco knocked down a catenary pole, slicing off Car 1's roof. There was a loco and eight carriages on that morning. The back of Car 3 and the front of Car 4 were under the bridge when it lost its structural integrity and collapsed, trapping those inside. Emergency services were there within minutes, working through the day and well into the night to rescue people. All up, the death toll was eighty-three with over two hundred injured. Some passengers were saved by the fact that they hadn't had time for their morning cigarette, and had to have one in the smoking car, Car 1, of the Slogger. It was just that close to death for those people.

 

[big_b]

This is the first I've heard about this, but that is nothing compared to the Granville disaster west of Sydney on January 18, 1977.

I'm sure the people on that train will be relieved to hear that.

Let's not get into a " My crash was bigger than yours thread "

The main concern now is this crash & the people involved.

Dave

 

[Trainman10]

6 people have died. 80 something people have been taken to the hospital. I hope the class A RR's can learn something from this. To where they can prevent something like this from happening.

 

[Enkidoh]

Such a tragic accident. Watching on the news there seems to be conflicting reports as to a possible cause however.

The current official theory is that the first train was stopped in a passing loop at a station, to let the second train (that was behind it) pass, however somehow it instead collided with it, which sounds like point/turnout failure, or else a red signal was passed.

The news report I watched however showed one of the passengers mentioning how the second train seemed to jump the track, which seems unlikely, but not impossible.

Either way, I hope that no more fatalities are discovered in this terrible disaster.

 

[magickmaker]

There's a couple things about this accident that bother me. For one, the cars are basically the same ones used by MARTA around the Atlanta subway system. Now if they kept the same design (which given some of the statements I suspect they did) that would mean that the DC Metro trains are computer controlled and have a "conductor" who rides with them for in case anything goes wrong. Though they do have a control stand, the operator doesn't touch this, being there for only if the control system goes out or something similar. Secondly, I have to admit the fact that the second train telescoped, bothers me. I thought trains like this had anti climbers to prevent such, but apparently that is not the case.

 

[Euphod]

From what I can gather the NTSB is saying the computer control failed. The train car in question was recommended to be removed from service, and did not have a black box system, or other safety systems, which may explain the lack of anti climbers.

 

[Tokkyu40]

... Though they do have a control stand, the operator doesn't touch this...

She touched it this time. The emergency brake button was engaged and the brakes had blued from the heat.
I hadn't heard that the moving train was supposed to pass the standing train. That would explain why the brakes weren't engaged sooner. From the turnout to the collision might not have been much distance at all at that speed.

Claude

 

[RooRocz]

Here are my speculations, based on news reports and my knowledge of how the Metro operates from using it daily for a few years...



For the purposes of this post, Train A is the one that was crashed into by Train B.

Train A came to a halt outside Takoma station, waiting for the platform to clear. The DC Metro always runs trains going the same direction on the same platform. The other train was never intended to pass it; to have one train pass another is unheard of on the DC Metro system.

Train B comes along. The automatic train control system (ATC) is supposed to slow it down and stop it, so that it too can wait. The thing is, it doesn't, for whatever reason. The driver hits the emergency brake, but it's too late, and they collide.

Train B was composed of 1000-series stock, the oldest in the system. Ancient and Italian-made, they were never going to hold up well in a collision. I was genuinely surprised by the telescoping though.


This was an appalling accident, and I hope it never occurs again. The Metro Red Line is currently closed from Fort Totten to Takoma, which is making everyone's commutes terrible. Also, the front car of every train in DC is almost completely empty now.

 

[Euphod]

Similar cars are in use in Chicago, New York and San Francisco...

 

[scottling]

I'm sure the people on that train will be relieved to hear that.

Let's not get into a " My crash was bigger than yours thread "

The main concern now is this crash & the people involved.

Dave

I'm sorry, I didn't type it the way I meant it. I'm not trying to overshadow that crash, but I just wanted to give an example of how it can be a lot worse.

 

[Tiger313]

Looking at aerial pictures on GoogleMaps, there is no passing loop there at all. There are 4 tracks, the middle ones have 3rd rails fitted, like the metro would use. The outer tracks don't because they're not interconnected.

There's a cross-over on the metro tracks in the middle, just south of Takoma station. This one is not close enough to the site of the accident to be causing a derailment and have the train slide all the way over to the accident site.

The closest by passing loop is north of Silver Spring station, which is north of Takoma station. So waiting in a passing loop is out of the question as well.

Now it has me wondering "why would that one train stop". I mean, especially when it's a computer controlled system, you would think that there's at least a good few minutes between the two trains. And "did the driver not notice the signal being red?". Perhaps because the computer controlled running of the train day in day out without any noteworthy incidents gets people bored and therefore they're more easily distracted? Who knows. Time will tell, I guess.

 

[RooRocz]

And "did the driver not notice the signal being red?".

The DC Metro doesn't have signals.... except for at turnouts, which are few and far between.

 

[Gandalf0444]

Looking at aerial pictures on GoogleMaps, there is no passing loop there at all. There are 4 tracks, the middle ones have 3rd rails fitted, like the metro would use. The outer tracks don't because they're not interconnected.

There's a cross-over on the metro tracks in the middle, just south of Takoma station. This one is not close enough to the site of the accident to be causing a derailment and have the train slide all the way over to the accident site.

The closest by passing loop is north of Silver Spring station, which is north of Takoma station. So waiting in a passing loop is out of the question as well.

Now it has me wondering "why would that one train stop". I mean, especially when it's a computer controlled system, you would think that there's at least a good few minutes between the two trains. And "did the driver not notice the signal being red?". Perhaps because the computer controlled running of the train day in day out without any noteworthy incidents gets people bored and therefore they're more easily distracted? Who knows. Time will tell, I guess.

The time of the crash was during the afternoon rush hour,and because of that the trains are more frequent causing them to be closer together,that is why the one train was waiting for the one in front to clear the platform.

 

[D9007_Pinza]

This is the first I've heard about this, but that is nothing compared to the Granville disaster west of Sydney on January 18, 1977.

Very good point scottling, let's hope this crash does not top Granville, which I have been doing for a school assignment.

Somehow it came off the tracks at 80km/h (50mph) and ran into one of the supports for the Bold Street bridge, over the railway. The loco knocked down a catenary pole, slicing off Car 1's roof.

For the record, faulty track spikes and sleepers used in lead 73 (the turnout the loco derailed on, along with an excessive posted speed limit (80km/h) and a faulty (condemned) leading axle.

Evan

 

[jeffmorris]

I saw a computer simulation of the first car of one train crashing into the last car of the other train and jumped over that car. I think that the accident happened on curved tracks and the operator didn't have time to hit the emergency brakes. I think that the old cars were supposed to be replaced with new cars but the agency that runs the Metro system didn't have enough money to buy new cars. I found this out from CBS TV news show.