Re: UK Mainline Steam Tours BANNED

70000 · **Posted:** Mon Oct 19, 2015 7:59 am

There has been an update issued concerning the investigation of the "incident" that started it all..........

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... update.pdf

Some fairly serious items still being investigated (like isolating the warning system), so will be interesting to see how this develops

PaulWWoodring · **Posted:** Mon Oct 19, 2015 10:13 am

In the U. S. that would be called "nullifying a federally mandated safety device". Deep doo doo.

Alexander D. Mitchell IV · **Posted:** Wed Oct 21, 2015 9:30 am

Media coverage of the report:

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-wiltshire-34583242

Quote:

Safety equipment which was turned off allowing a steam train to pass a red signal had been turned off on previous occasions, a report has shown.

The train passed a signal near Royal Wootton Bassett in March and ended up across a junction.

A Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) report showed an Automatic Warning System (AWS) brake demand was by-passed by the train's crew.

The report said it was not the only occasion when it had been by-passed.

The driver of the Tangmere locomotive ignored two AWS warnings, the report showed.

He fully applied the brakes when he saw the red signal but there was insufficient distance to bring the train to a halt.

The report found the First Great Western service from Swansea to London Paddington had "fortunately" already passed through the junction before the stream train came to a halt.

The steam train was operated as a charter service by the West Coast Railway Company Ltd (WCRC).

The editor of Rail magazine, Nigel Harris, said: "Do not underestimate how serious this was. We were a heartbeat from absolute catastrophe.

"Because the driver missed the red signal his train stopped across the junction.

"No more than a minute before that a First Great Western express heading for London was occupying that junction at nearly 100 mph."

The RAIB said it was continuing to investigate the incident and "the extent of the practice" of by-passing the AWS.

The competence of the train crew involved, and how this was managed by WCRC, will also be investigated.

It's not Ricky Gates, Conrail locos with a taped-over warning whistle, and Amtrak at Chase in 1987 until the crew is accused of smoking pot as well, but.......

Bobharbison · **Joined:** Fri Dec 03, 2004 9:42 pm **Posts:** 2944

I was kind of hoping this was a matter of incompetence rather than intentionally disabling the warning system. Maybe, for example, they'd disabled it so that it didn't give an alarm when testing the brakes or something and then forgot to enable it, kind of like when you cut out the brake stand to do a leak test. (I'm not at all familiar with the AWS system, so it probably doesn't work that way at all, I'm just going for a general concept here.)

Sadly, the report makes it sound like it was intentional, and it has happened before. Why would they disable the system? What advantage would there be to having it deactivated?

It also states "The driver of the Tangmere locomotive ignored two AWS warnings, the report showed."

If it was disabled, was it still capable of giving warnings? Why would the engineer ignore them?

Obviously, the answers will have to come out of the investigation, but it certainly does raise some serious questions.

70000 · **Posted:** Tue Nov 24, 2015 5:13 pm

Got home from work this evening and found that this "Groundhog Day" story has hit the various UK enthusiast forums.....

http://railwayherald.com/uknews/orr-iss ... ice-on-wcr

Things appear to be happening since this story broke and at least one locomotive has since been cleared (allegedly) for WCRC operation.

Talk about hitting the fan..!

Chris Webster · **Joined:** Sat Aug 25, 2007 12:45 am **Posts:** 1027

Another article: West Coast Railways steam prohibited on main line network (Nov 24, 2015)

An excerpt:

Quote:

The Office of Rail and Road has prohibited West Coast Railways from operating steam trains on the main line rail network.
In a statement released today (November 24), the regulator said: “The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) has temporarily prohibited West Coast Railway Company Ltd from operating steam trains on the main line rail network, to protect the safety of its staff, volunteers, passengers and members of the public.
“The enforcement action follows an initial investigation into an incident near Doncaster on October 2 2015, which found staff on-board locomotive 45231 had turned off its Train Protection and Warning System (TPWS) isolation equipment, designed to apply an emergency brake if the driver makes an error.

Jim Livesey · **Joined:** Sun Aug 22, 2004 5:50 pm **Posts:** 96

There has been loads of froth on forums from those who know little about the incident but.....

Reading between the lines:

It appears that the loco is fitted with an older form of TPWS isolation switch and that a member of the footplate staff accidentally kicked it or there was some other form of inadvertent contact and took the system out on the loco. Apparently the driver reported the occurrence to NR control - as he should - and things went from there....

There is now a (newer?) form of isolation switch which can only be operated from outside the cab. This is fitted to 61306 "Mayflower" and in the last day or so has also been fitted and tested on 45407. It is also fitted the operating locos based at Tyseley (Birmingham) and 46233 "Duchess of Sutherland".

As a result the "total" ban on steam operation has been lifted some parts of booked workings this week will have steam haulage.

No doubt the full tale will emerge in time but I do not think that there has been any "cover up" and that the RAIB ORRA and WCRC have been discussing the (safe) way forward.

It seems probable that the ban is/was the administrative means of forcing the fitment of the revised kit.

It does seem that it was considered dangerous for a member of the loco crew to dismount from the loco to reach the isolation switch. This is in an environment where train crew are discouraged from dismounting without obtaining a "block" on adjacent tracks.

70000 · **Posted:** Wed Dec 09, 2015 9:29 am

This has been released today, relating to the original incident at Wootten Bassett Junction............

http://orr.gov.uk/news-and-media/press- ... l-incident

Doesn't look particularly good for both parties accused.

Alexander D. Mitchell IV · **Posted:** Wed Dec 09, 2015 9:31 am

From the Facebook accounts of Britain's Steam Railway and Heritage Railway Magazines:

Quote:

The Office of Rail & Road has issued the following statement:

The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) has today started criminal proceedings against train operator West Coast Railway Company Limited (WCRC) and one of its drivers. The charges relate to breaches of Health and Safety Law which led to a train passing a signal warning at danger on 7 March 2015.

The prosecutions follow ORR’s investigation into an incident involving a steam locomotive operated by WCRC, which passed a signal at danger near Wootton Bassett junction, Wiltshire. This extremely serious incident resulted in the train coming to a stop 550 metres after the signal, across a busy junction on the Great Western main line, directly in the path of high speed trains.

The train’s driver is facing charges under section 7(a) and 8 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (HSWA). This relates to his alleged intentional misuse of the Train Protection and Warning System (TPWS) equipment. ORR’s investigation found that the driver directed a colleague to turn off this essential safety system, designed to apply an emergency brake if the driver makes an error.

WCRC is separately facing charges under section 3(1) and 2(1) of the HSWA. This is on account of its alleged failure to implement managerial controls, procedures, training and monitoring to prevent staff turning off the TPWS equipment.

ORR has been closely monitoring WCRC’s operation since this incident. ORR has also today launched a review of WCRC’s safety certificate, which is needed to operate its trains on the rail network.

Ian Prosser, HM Chief Inspector of Railways at ORR said:

“The safety of staff, volunteers, passengers and members of the public is our absolute priority.

“Britain’s railways have a good safety record. However, there have been a number of incidents over the past year involving West Coast Railway Company (WCRC) trains.

“The incident at Wootton Bassett junction, where a WCRC train passed a signal at danger, was caused by alleged intentional misuse of a key safety system. This could have easily led to a catastrophic train collision.

“ORR inspectors are working with the rail industry, in particular the mainline heritage sector, to ensure that lessons are learned, and public safety is not put at risk.”

The first hearing is due to take place at Swindon Magistrates' Court on 11 January 2016.

Overmod · **Joined:** Thu May 24, 2012 1:37 pm **Posts:** 2492

I put this together and get something pretty sad.

They managed a SPAD with the warning system disabled, and were given what appears to be a trememdous break -- provided they 'went and sinned no more'. Then they go and turn the thing off again and have trouble in early November.

It looks to me as if the earlier event has come up for prosecution more or less only because of the later one. The thing I can't figure out is a "organizational culture" at WCRC that would allow mandatory train-control systems to be turned off ... apparently at will, although I do not know if any actual mitigating circumstances might have occurred ... AFTER having a near-miss come-to-Jesus moment.

Nigel Anthony Hewer Day · **Posted:** Wed Dec 09, 2015 6:02 pm

It's a long story. There is much yet to come out. It's wrong to debate the issue till it all dose. What I realise is that every one must play by the rules for everyone's saftey, no exceptions.

70000 · **Posted:** Wed Jan 20, 2016 3:24 pm

Following an initial hearing at the Magistrates Court, the "Tangmere" case is now committed to Swindon Crown Court on 19th February....

http://m.thisiswiltshire.co.uk/news/14217852._/

70000 · **Posted:** Wed Feb 17, 2016 11:29 am

Just when you thought it couldn't get worse...........

http://orr.gov.uk/news-and-media/news-a ... l-services

West Coast have had their operating licence suspended again ! (and this is seperate to the still ongoing Court process regarding the "Tangmere" incident)

bigjim4life · **Posted:** Wed Feb 17, 2016 12:51 pm

So you mean to tell me that after the original incident where safety systems got turned off, they did it again in the fall? Seriously? Yikes...

Bobharbison · **Joined:** Fri Dec 03, 2004 9:42 pm **Posts:** 2944

70000 wrote:

Just when you thought it couldn't get worse...........

http://orr.gov.uk/news-and-media/news-a ... l-services

West Coast have had their operating licence suspended again ! (and this is seperate to the still ongoing Court process regarding the "Tangmere" incident)

Like the Facebook meme, "You're a special kind of stupid, aren't you?"

What possible reason can they have for doing this AGAIN? Obviously everyone in the company knows what happened. Obviously they'll be under scrutiny. Why on earth would you disable the system again?

Is there some logic we're overlooking? Did it trigger in error and the only way to proceed was to disable it? If so, wouldn't you contact somebody and say "OK, this happened, we're going to do this, and then proceed at restricted speed to X where we can safely get off the mainline..."

It appears, from this very short description, to be a total and blatant disregard for the rules. Disabling a safety device is typical punishable by firing. What were they thinking? Does anyone have any possible logic for that action?

Re: UK Mainline Steam Tours BANNED

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