30.08.12
Worn points led to Waverley derailment – RAIB
Network Rail must review its repairs process following the derailment of a train near Waverley station, the RAIB has recommended.
The derailment took place on July 27, 2011 near Princes Street Gardens. No-one was injured and there were no passengers aboard, but services were cancelled and led to disruption for two days.
The RAIB’s initial report found that the incident occurred as a set of points the train went over were too worn. The full report, released yesterday, showed that that section of track was repaired three days before the accident.
On July 24 a full inspection was carried out, which found evidence of “significant wear”. The Network Rail team used a grinding method to remove the defects, but the RAIB said that the damage was too great for this to have fixed it.
The RAIB has made five recommendations to Network Rail relating to:
- the provision of maintenance intervention limits on switches;
- the need for a review of the relevant standard to provide assurance that it addresses all potential derailment mechanisms on switches and to clarify its requirements;
- the development of a more accurate method for gauging the angle of switch rails;
- the increased use of automatic lubrication on switches vulnerable to wear; and
- the need to review and address the recurrence of factors in this accident which were previously identified by the RAIB in investigations of similar derailment.
View the report at: www.raib.gov.uk/cms_resources.cfm?file=/120830_R182012_Princes_St_Gardens.pdf
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