Another transit related crash: San Francisco

[to2leo]

Several dozen hurt in San Francisco light-rail crash

http://www.mercurynews.com/topstories/ci_12868228?nclick_check=1

SAN FRANCISCO — Two San Francisco light-rail trains collided Saturday afternoon at the West Portal Station, injuring several dozen people, authorities said.

Forty-four people were transported to hospitals — three with what appeared to be severe injuries — when a San Francisco Municipal Railway L Taraval train rear ended a K Ingleside train near a boarding platform around 2:30 p.m., officials said.

"This is probably one of the largest casualty incidents in recent years (in San Francisco)," said Pat Gardner, a deputy chief with the San Francisco Fire Department. Gardner said about 40 rescue workers were at the scene.

Witnesses said the westbound Taraval train barreled into the Ingleside train as it emerged from a tunnel connecting downtown San Francisco to the city's western neighborhoods.

The trains were full. The front of the Taraval train was smashed while the K train did not appear to have suffered major damage.

Shin San, 15, said her sister, Celene, was on the L Taraval when it hit the Ingleside train and called her from her cell phone.

"She said she was on the L and heard a boom," she said. "She saw glass windows shattered and a guy got his ear cut."

San said her sister did not suffer major injuries.

Several people sat bloodied and bandadged near the crash scene, as rescue workers set up a triage system to isolate the most severely injured.

Gardner said 20 people suffered.

[to2leo]

Yes there are car crashes everyday but one got to wonder why are there so many transit to transit related crashes in less than a month spread through out the US.  Is it infrastructure problems?  Human errors?  Where are the fail safe devices that are suppose to stop rail vehicles from colliding?  Is it training?

[Guest ___]

More like within the past year. I'm not sure whether or not that there are more accidents, but rather greater coverage since the incident in CA last fall on the Metrolink

[to2leo]

That's what also bother me too.  Since the LA incident last year, I would thought transit agencies would start looking at their policies and safety protocols.  Would automation really the way to go to prevent accidents?

 

For instance, I work in the public sector and whenever there's an incident, we review it to make sure other branches will know how to response rather than react to the situation.

[Mudkip Orange]

One diff between SF and DC... SF isn't supposed to have a fail-safe system that prevents the trains from hitting each other.

 

I'm sure there's signals in the tunnels but don't most of the surface Muni Metro lines operate via line-of-sight only?

[Guest ___]

One diff between SF and DC... SF isn't supposed to have a fail-safe system that prevents the trains from hitting each other.

 

I'm sure there's signals in the tunnels but don't most of the surface Muni Metro lines operate via line-of-sight only?

[/quote

 

Well that's apples and oranges. If by DC you are referring to Metrorail and BART then eys, the ATS would prevent this, now if we were referring to LRT both of which are in use or will be in SF and DC. (SF has MUNI and DC will have Anacostia Streetcar Line (LRV)) automation would not really work as LRT are mixed between grade separation and in-traffic running. Historically however as so far as HRT goes, ATC has a relatively good safety record, probably better than those operated under manual control.