Harry Posted July 25, 2013 Share #1 Posted July 25, 2013 Video shows the moment a train in northwestern Spain derailed Wednesday night, tossing passenger cars on their sides and scattering bodies along the tracks with at least 78 people dead and as many as 141 injured, Spanish newspapers said. Dozens of corpses covered in blankets lined the ground along the train tracks leading into Santiago de Compostela, the capital city of Galicia, according to Spain’s El Pais newspaper. It was too soon to say what caused the derailment, but the high-speed train may have been going twice the speed limit on the sharp curve, according to El Pais. One train car flew over an embankment and landed about 50 feet away from the tracks, El Pais reported. There were more than 200 people on the high-speed train.Read more: Source Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
realizm Posted July 25, 2013 Share #2 Posted July 25, 2013 I saw this in the NY Post. With the casualties involved and counting and the immense impact of the train, with one car flying literally, I imagine, this sounds like something reminiscent of the infamous Malbone Street Wreck. According to my understanding the Siemens AVE trains on the high speed rail network are regulated to travel with a speed limit of 186 MPH. A disasterous crash to the extreme, worse then the high speed rail derailment in Zhejiang, China with 38 fatalities, in that case a freak accident, as the train was struck by lightning, killing the motors as another train behind it smashed into the stalled train, resultantly (The allegations involving the coverup is another issue, not getting into that.) My condolences to the families of the victims. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mfs NJT459 Posted July 25, 2013 Share #3 Posted July 25, 2013 I wonder how this will impact the national debate on high speed rail in America? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turbo19 Posted July 25, 2013 Share #4 Posted July 25, 2013 Damn, looks bad. My condolences go out to those affected by this tragedy. I wonder how this will impact the national debate on high speed rail in America? I'd hope not much. As with all modes of transport there is the unexpected event of casualties as depicted here, however they can easily be prevented. Too often we tend to focus on the negatives while overlooking the positives. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
46Dover Posted July 25, 2013 Share #5 Posted July 25, 2013 Did you see the crash in real time on YouTube???? GOD DAAAMN!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Via Garibaldi 8 Posted July 25, 2013 Share #6 Posted July 25, 2013 Absolutely horrible... Brings back terrible memories of 2004 when I was living in Europe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fan Railer Posted July 25, 2013 Share #7 Posted July 25, 2013 I wonder how this will impact the national debate on high speed rail in America? It won't. Or at least it shouldn't. The accident was clearly the cause of a severe case of overspeeding, not anything to do with safety standards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
46Dover Posted July 25, 2013 Share #8 Posted July 25, 2013 Absolutely horrible... Brings back terrible memories of 2004 when I was living in Europe. Would that be the German ICE crash? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Via Garibaldi 8 Posted July 25, 2013 Share #9 Posted July 25, 2013 Would that be the German ICE crash? No, that would be the 2004 bombings of the train in Madrid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
46Dover Posted July 25, 2013 Share #10 Posted July 25, 2013 No, that would be the 2004 bombings of the train in Madrid. Ohhh right Ever notice there is such a high death toll in Europe when there are accidents like this? Has there been a high number of fatalities on a passenger train in this country as there have been over there? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Via Garibaldi 8 Posted July 25, 2013 Share #11 Posted July 25, 2013 Ohhh right Ever notice there is such a high death toll in Europe when there are accidents like this? Has there been a high number of fatalities on a passenger train in this country as there have been over there? Europe (Wstern Europe in particular) has a lot of high speed trains. I used to travel around Italy a lot and even I used EuroStar a lot (now called Frecciarossa) and I was living on my own personal savings and was a college student at the time. They attract a lot of businessmen but overall the trains actually compete with the planes there because the rides aren't terribly long since the countries are close together. I knew of one guy who would take trips regularly from Florence to Copenhagen. It was about a 13 hour ride but he liked the scenery over taking a plane. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobtehpanda Posted July 25, 2013 Share #12 Posted July 25, 2013 Ohhh right Ever notice there is such a high death toll in Europe when there are accidents like this? Has there been a high number of fatalities on a passenger train in this country as there have been over there? Trains carry a lot more people than cars, and trains carry more people in Europe than they do here. It's sort of like how in a plane crash, it seems like a lot of people die, but both train and plane crashes are few and far between. There has never been a fatal crash involving Japanese Shinkansen technology, however. There has been a derailment, but that occurred because of an earthquake, and the early warning systems in Japan caused the train to brake to a complete stop just before the derailment occurred. It won't. Or at least it shouldn't. The accident was clearly the cause of a severe case of overspeeding, not anything to do with safety standards. Yep - 180km/h+ in a 50km/h zone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamaica Line Posted July 25, 2013 Share #13 Posted July 25, 2013 Trains carry a lot more people than cars, and trains carry more people in Europe than they do here. It's sort of like how in a plane crash, it seems like a lot of people die, but both train and plane crashes are few and far between. There has never been a fatal crash involving Japanese Shinkansen technology, however. There has been a derailment, but that occurred because of an earthquake, and the early warning systems in Japan caused the train to brake to a complete stop just before the derailment occurred. Yep - 180km/h+ in a 50km/h zone. You mean in an 80km/h zone... Another source stated he boasted about his high speed travels on Facebook by posting shots of the speedo. http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/driver-review-spanish-train-wreck-killed-80-boasted-high-speeds-facebook-reports-article-1.1408684 Thou I sure as hell would to if I ran the Acela trains... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vistausss Posted July 25, 2013 Share #14 Posted July 25, 2013 Would that be the German ICE crash? Which one? The German ICE crashed more than once... Trains carry a lot more people than cars, and trains carry more people in Europe than they do here. If we're talking long distance trains (e.g. compared to Amtrak) then yes. If not then it depends. Europe (Wstern Europe in particular) has a lot of high speed trains. Except for The Netherlands. 160 km/h max, even on the overpriced (as in: the build costs) high-speed line to Belgium because of broken high-speed trains (otherwise it would be 250 km/h on the high-speed line only). And the rest of the high-speed trains use the local/express tracks so it's 160 km/h max but mostly 140 km/h because the local/express tracks are speed-restricted by the government. There's also not really a high-speed line in Belgium although one could argue that the local/express trains are kinda high-speed as the voltage is really high (3000V) so accelerating is as fast as a high-speed train would accelerate. And the max is 160 km/h with a few lines maxed out to 300 km/h. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Via Garibaldi 8 Posted July 25, 2013 Share #15 Posted July 25, 2013 Which one? The German ICE crashed more than once... If we're talking long distance trains (e.g. compared to Amtrak) then yes. If not then it depends. Except for The Netherlands. 160 km/h max, even on the overpriced (as in: the build costs) high-speed line to Belgium because of broken high-speed trains (otherwise it would be 250 km/h on the high-speed line only). And the rest of the high-speed trains use the local/express tracks so it's 160 km/h max but mostly 140 km/h. Oh the Netherlands... Bad food, bad weather... So much better in Belgium... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vistausss Posted July 25, 2013 Share #16 Posted July 25, 2013 Oh the Netherlands... Bad food, bad weather... So much better in Belgium... I couldn't agree more with you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Via Garibaldi 8 Posted July 25, 2013 Share #17 Posted July 25, 2013 I couldn't agree more with you LOL! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minato ku Posted July 26, 2013 Share #18 Posted July 26, 2013 Note that the accident was not really on the high speed track but the conventional line located just after the high speed line. It does not have the same safety faisure like stopping the train when it is over the speed limits and it does not have curve made for high speed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
46Dover Posted July 26, 2013 Share #19 Posted July 26, 2013 @Vistauss, the ICE that jumped the tracks and slammed into an overpass Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vistausss Posted July 26, 2013 Share #20 Posted July 26, 2013 It does not have the same safety faisure like stopping the train when it is over the speed limits How do you know that? Because some countries, like mine for example, do have that technology on local lines. @Vistauss, the ICE that jumped the tracks and slammed into an overpass Ah yeah, that was quite bad. Not as bad as the ICE crash in Enschede in the 90s but still bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minato ku Posted July 26, 2013 Share #21 Posted July 26, 2013 How do you know that? Because some countries, like mine for example, do have that technology on local lines. Because it was the case of this particular line, obviously the european railway networks is not homoegenous, even within a country or a region, systems are not not identical. At High speed, you can't drive a train only by eyes because as soon you see something, you surpass it, so, most of the signaling informations are inside the driver cab. This accident happened because the train was on a conventional line, in a high speed track, this would never have happened. The ICE crash in Enschede was due to a design flaw of the train (the wheels more exactly), not overspeed like here. High speed line are very safe actually, much safer than conventional line because of strict security rules. Almost twenty year ago a TGV derailled at high speed (294 km/h or 182mph, the world's fastest derailment) without any casuality or big injurie (one passenger out 200 was slightly injured). This was due to a skin hole under the track caused by undetected galleries and trenches from World War I after heavy rain fall. All the big accident involving a TGV train were in conventional line, mostly at level crossing. The only deaths inside TGV train were during a terrorist attack in 1983. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Q90 Posted July 26, 2013 Share #22 Posted July 26, 2013 This is just horrible. But about the train, at least it wasn't a Series 103 because I really like that type. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vistausss Posted July 27, 2013 Share #23 Posted July 27, 2013 @Minato: I knew most of what you told but thanks anyway Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mtatransit Posted July 30, 2013 Share #24 Posted July 30, 2013 Driver were on his work phone when the train crashed. Google it. Type in spain driver on phone. I'm too lazy to post the website. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vistausss Posted July 31, 2013 Share #25 Posted July 31, 2013 Driver were on his work phone when the train crashed. Google it. Type in spain driver on phone. I'm too lazy to post the website. Even worse: he was calling on his work phone to Renfe, the train company he operates for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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