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Details of cause of Carlisle Petteril Bridge rail freight accident

Posted by (Northamptonshire, England) on

I've been unable to locate the original post detailing the freight train accident near Carlisle which blocked the trains for so many weeks from 19 October 2022 until 6 December 2022 - the post about the reopening was at
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/england/trains-in-and-out-of-carlisle-to-skipton-and-newcastle-back

The RAIB (Rail Accident Investigation Board) has just released its report which shows, among other things, the root cause of the accident happened 55 miles from the scene. Those affected in those 3 months may find it interesting reading, and those concerned for how the safety of the railway is ensured.

An article in a trade magazine with a link to the full report is at https://railuk.com/rail-freight/raib-report-freight-train-derailment-at-petteril-bridge-junction/

Posted by
14818 posts

Thanks Nigel. That is very interesting. It seems like the wheels would have been really loud but apparently not enough for anyone to notice it!

Posted by
8132 posts

The problem is that the train passed each signalbox at likely 40 to 50mph. The signaller would have been inside, so not much chance to hear excessive noise. And with the engine noise as well......

Before this report, if I was sat at a station and had seen the sparking, or heard the noise I doubt I would have thought there was a problem, or at least not known what the issue was. And I am decently knowlegeable.

And thus I wouldn't have thought to contact the signallers on the direct internal phones many of those stations have - for use by the public in times of disruption, mainly.

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