train Crash.

[KateLMead]

Terrible news and the loss of so many lives. By all accounts a carriage Exploded.. Frightening.

[Kaz]

Do you mean the Spanish one Kate? Yes it's just awful, so much loss of life

[Diflower]

It was going far too fast - reports of it doing well over 100mph on a bend that's restricted to 50mph

[Kaz]

Yes I heard that on the news too - more than 80 have died now

[KateLMead]

Terrible... yes I did mean the crash in Spain. Poor families poor people, a major catastrophe, and we were supposedly going to copy their railway...

[TheOstrich]

There is webcam footage of the actual crash out there (viewable on most media websites) that is absolutely horrific to watch.

It certainly seems that excess speed was the prime cause (analysis of the footage supports that) but there are subsidiary questions to my mind such as the lack of automatic speed inhibitors on that stretch of track which would have warned the crew, and also the crash-worthiness of the carriages, many of which were effectively destroyed.

A terrible business; thoughts for the bereaved and injured tonight ....

[Diflower]

Apparently the warning system is in place Ossie, so one of the questions is whether it worked.
How does it work though, it only said it warns, so presumably the driver can still go faster if he wants to
They also said carriages 2 and 3 were already tipping, so it's possible there was a fault in the connection between them...at the moment it seems easy to blame the driver but that would be dreadful if it turns out to be not his fault.

[JoM]

Absolutely dreadful isn't it The footage of the crash really is horrific.
Di, I'm wondering that too. Do the inhibitors do anything to slow the train, or is it just a light that goes on on the control panel which the driver can choose to ignore?
My thoughts are very much with those affected by this.

[Diflower]

You automatically think it should slow it don't you, and well before that bend. After all, like the 'dead man's handle', what if something happened to the driver?
It's mostly a straight track, with high speeds, but that bend obviously needs to be taken slowly.
So awful, whatever the cause.

[KateLMead]

Terrible Di!!!