#rail-safety

#rail-safety

The western German state North Rhine-Westphalia is proposing a new package of measures and is calling on the federal government to strengthen safety on trains ahead of a Deutsche Bahn security summit in Berlin. The state, Germany's most populous, wants to expand the use of two-person teams among train conductors. It is also urging the national government to provide legal clarity for the wearing of body cameras on public transport, which is currently voluntary.

A preliminary investigation into the incident found the derailment happened because nine screws holding down rail fastenings on part of the track leading into Union Station gave way under fatigue, Metrolinx CEO Michael Lindsay said. These lag screws should be fastened by four screws in the plate. At this particular location they were fastened by two, he said, citing the latest track standards, updated in 2016.

Spain's largest train drivers' union has called a three-day nationwide strike to demand measures to guarantee the safety of rail workers and passengers after two deadly crashes this week killed at least 44 people, including two drivers. At least 43 people died and dozens more were injured after two trains collided on Sunday near the town of Adamuz, in the Cordoba province in Andalucia.

Then in early December, another man was hit on the tracks by a train and killed in West Berkeley at Bancroft Way and Fourth Street. Now the Chronicle reports that on Monday, at nearly the exact same Bancroft Way and Fourth Street location, a man was hit by a train on those tracks and killed at around 11:37 am. As of Tuesday afternoon, the Alameda County Coroner's Office has not identified the victim.

A man was killed Monday when a Union Pacific train struck him near Hearst Avenue. Berkeley police received a call that a train had hit someone near the University Avenue overpass shortly before 11:40 a.m., according to a department spokesperson. When officers arrived at the tracks, they found the dead man and notified the Union Pacific Police Department. The man had been trespassing on the train tracks, Jill Micek, a Union Pacific spokesperson, said in an email.

Brian Mitchell, 72, was killed by a train terminating at Stratford on 26 December 2023. The emergency brakes were not applied by any of the four incoming train operators, the inquest into his death heard. Mitchell had spent almost an hour at the end of the platform before he fell on to the track. He had 272mg of alcohol in his system, more than three times the legal driving limit.

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He had 272mg of alcohol in his system, more than three times the legal driving limit, jurors at East London Coroner's Court were told. The train operator of the fifth service to pass Mr Mitchell reported a blow-up doll on the track, and a member of staff, who did see the body was unable to stop the last train, as they were in shock.

Philadelphia, Pennsylvnia -- Follow First Class Track Inspector Anthony Stumpo on a typical day underground: inspecting, repairing and keeping everyone riding SEPTA's rapid transit line safe and where they need to go. He explains, "With track inspection, you're in the weather; you're in the tunnel: heat, cold, rain, sleet, shine, whatever. We're out there. And we have to be!" Anthony hails from West Deptford, New Jersey. He is one of 54 track inspectors in Philadelphia's SEPTA, the regional transit authority for Philadelphia and its surrounding counties.

A pivotal moment in Long Island and metro New York transportation history; one that led state officials to wrest control of the beleaguered, bankrupt LIRR from its long-absentee owner, the Pennsylvania Railroad, leading to millions of dollars in safety improvements and system upgrades and the creation of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in the 1960s.

The new east-west train service between Oxford and Milton Keynes has been delayed due to the government and rail companies insisting on driver-only trains. We have just experienced a mass stabbing of passengers by a lone attacker on a busy train in Cambridgeshire, where a railway employee made a heroic attempt to protect them (Report, 2 November). Is this really the time for leaving the public and the train driver at the mercy of single manning? Jessica Holroyd Milton Keynes

A mistake in the automated track switches. An anomaly that should not have happened in the design of the railway system. This is how Oscar David Lozano, Director General of Mexico's Maya Train, explained the track incident during the morning press conference, which caused a minor derailment of two train cars at the Izamal station in Yucatan on Tuesday afternoon.