Posted on 30 August 2010 by Railways Africa Editor
During the morning peak on 25 August, a minibus-taxi carrying 14 scholars overtook a queue of vehicles waiting at the Buttskop Road crossing 1km south of Blackheath station (29km east of Cape Town), zig-zagged through the closed half-barriers and was hit by Metrorail train 2309, the 06:35 from Bellville to Eerste River. The driver of [...] [...more]
Posted on 30 August 2010 by Railways Africa Editor
Already facing a serious financial crisis which led to discontinuation of services on many routes, several hundred kilometres of railway line have been washed away in Pakistan. Officials of the national railway say they will only be in a position to estimate overall losses when the floodwaters flow into the Arabian Sea. [...more]
Posted on 30 August 2010 by Railways Africa Editor
Though train passengers do not usually sustain injury in level crossing collisions, 19 were reported hurt – one critically – at Sewage Works Lane near Sudbury in Suffolk, UK on 17 August 2010. The train driver and guard were also injured. Train 2T27, the 17:31 from Sudbury to Marks Tey, struck the trailer of a [...] [...more]
Posted on 30 August 2010 by Railways Africa Editor
CSX Transportation has blamed the 5 August derailment of 13 wagons in Baltimore’s 100-year-old Howard Street Tunnel on defective track, spokesman Gary Saese told The Baltimore Sun‘s Michael Dresser. CSX has not determined what led to the break, Saese said, explaining that “such damage typically is caused by an internal defect”. The track in the [...] [...more]
Posted on 30 August 2010 by Railways Africa Editor
On 25 August, a Canadian National freight train derailed 43 wagons at the Scotford Yard, about 3km north-east of Fort Saskatchewan. The “mixed cargo” included seven types of hazardous materials, from diesel to liquefied petroleum gas. There were no injuries and no public hazard resulted. The cause of the derailment is believed to have been [...] [...more]
Posted on 25 August 2010 by Railways Africa Editor
The Railway Safety Regulator’s (RSR) inspectors are on site, investigating a level crossing accident which left eight (8) school children dead in Blackheath in the Western Cape. The collision occurred at 7:10 am on Tuesday morning, when a train collided with a minibus taxi at a level crossing in the Blackheath area. The taxi was [...] [...more]
Posted on 20 August 2010 by Railways Africa Editor
On Sunday 15 August, a 72 ton steel construction support structure collapsed, injuring two workers and blocking the main railway near Ysterplaat station, about 5km from the Cape Town CBD. Traction power was switched off, disrupting train services. Fortunately there was no damage to the track. It is not at all clear what would have [...] [...more]
Posted on 20 August 2010 by Railways Africa Editor
On 13 August 2010, a serious runaway occurred on the London Underground’s Northern Line. A self-propelled diesel-powered rail re-profiler had been working between Highgate and Archway stations on the southbound track during the night of 12/13 August. At the end of grinding operations, the crew was unable to restart the power unit. Despatched to assist, [...] [...more]
Posted on 20 August 2010 by Railways Africa Editor
Train passengers along Amtrak’s busy north-east corridor confronted delays for most of Wednesday 11 August after a tree knocked out power and signals in Mercer County. The tree took down overhead power wires near Hamilton around 05:30, causing extensive delays between New York City and Philadelphia. By 16:00, residual delays were reduced to between 15 [...] [...more]
Posted on 20 August 2010 by Railways Africa Editor
A Wekusko Subdivision work train derailment on 12 August disrupted long-distance passenger trains in Canada’s Manitoba. Bus replacement services were provided between The Pas and Thompson. Then at the weekend, two F4 diesel locomotives hauling passenger train #693 left the track near The Pas, and was halted later by “high water” at Gilliam, Manitoba, on [...] [...more]
Posted on 20 August 2010 by Railways Africa Editor
At about 18:00 on Sunday 8 August, heavy rain during a thunderstorm flooded a level crossing in Gold Hill on the Virginia and Truckee (V&T) tourist railway in Nevada. A steam loco doing no more than 12km/h as it climbed with a train from Carson City derailed on the crossing. None of the 12 people [...] [...more]
Posted on 20 August 2010 by Railways Africa Editor
Seven people from a single family were killed when a northbound train collided with a minibus carrying students and their families in the south of Israel on 6 August. About 30 were injured. Train traffic was suspended after the accident. Initial investigations suggest that the driver of the minibus drove through a barrier at a [...] [...more]
