Trains ‘bounced’ over damaged rail track (From York Press)
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Trains ‘bounced’ over damaged rail track
9:54am Wednesday 5th December 2012 in News
By Mike Laycock, Chief reporter
An East Coat train heads towards the broken rail at Copmanthorpe, York, arrowed
TRAINS were “bouncing” along the East Coast mainline and shaking a nearby home for a fortnight before a five-inch gap was found in the track near York, a local resident has claimed.
Chris Sharp, who lives beside the line in Copmanthorpe, spoke out yesterday after The Press reported claims by the RMT union that the gap had placed passengers and staff at risk of a potentially lethal incident.
The claims were denied by Network Rail, which said that after being notified by a train driver on the neighbouring line, all trains were stopped from travelling over the fault until the track was replaced, and safety issues would never be compromised.
Mr Sharp said the damaged rail was at the end of his garden, about 50 metres north of the Temple Lane bridge over the railway, and he had seen it from his home and taken the pictures featured here, showing rail workers alongside the damaged track.
He said he saw a train pull up and the driver get out of his cab and pick up a chunk of rail, before the arrival of inspectors.
“Trains had been bouncing through this section of rail for a couple of weeks,” he claimed. “It was causing the house to shake far more than normal.”
He believed the ballast below the tracks had subsided, causing trains to bounce and putting pressure on the rails.
A Network Rail spokeswoman said yesterday that a rail defect at Copmanthorpe had been picked up at the start of November and maintenance and inspection planned, as was normal and entirely within standards.
“We will look into the claim about vibration,” she said. “However, we inspect the mainline every seven days and drivers report any rough rides etc, which are inspected as a normal part of our processes, and additional inspection and maintenance was completed as a result of the minor defect being found.”
She said Network Rail’s Community Relations helpline was available 24 hours a day on 08457 11 41 41, which people could ring to report any infrastructure issues. Safety issues go straight to control for action.
• The Press yesterday reported claims by the RMT union that the damaged track was at Colton. Network Rail confirmed yesterday it was further along the line at Copmanthorpe.
Comments(13)
Maltkiln
says...
12:18pm Wed 5 Dec 12
MouseHouse
says...
12:54pm Wed 5 Dec 12
Maltkiln wrote:How do you know he didn't?
.... If this Mr Sharp had been concerned for weeks that the trains had been bouncing over a damaged track ... why didn't he do something about it, like inform the relevant authorities etc ..... rather than bleating about it after the event ?!!!
twoleftfeet
says...
1:04pm Wed 5 Dec 12
He believed the ballast below the tracks had subsided, causing trains to bounce and putting pressure on the rails.
Heh heh, is Mr Sharp a Permamnent Way engineer all of a sudden? Any number of things may have caused the track defect!!
R'Marcus
says...
3:55pm Wed 5 Dec 12
YorkPatrol wrote:Mr, Sharp is WRIGHT.
Mr Sharp needs to wind his neck in, stop interfering, scare mongering and talking about something he clearly knows nothing about
Some of the rails which carry engine tranes and carriages are down right dangers, especially on the Copmanthorpe straight.
R'Marcus
says...
3:56pm Wed 5 Dec 12
Maltkiln wrote:Better late than never.
.... If this Mr Sharp had been concerned for weeks that the trains had been bouncing over a damaged track ... why didn't he do something about it, like inform the relevant authorities etc ..... rather than bleating about it after the event ?!!!
Madasanibbotson
says...
4:38pm Wed 5 Dec 12
Caecilius
says...
5:06pm Wed 5 Dec 12
YorkPatrol wrote:Then maybe he could get a job with Jarvis Rail, the company that claimed the fatal Potters Bar crash had been caused by an imaginary saboteur crawling around at dead of night loosening bolts on the track that they were contracted to maintain?
Mr Sharp needs to wind his neck in, stop interfering, scare mongering and talking about something he clearly knows nothing about
Except he can't, because, having caused the death of 7 people through its negligence, Jarvis subsequently went bust. And the organisation in charge at the time, Network Rail - which is still the organisation in charge today - was fined £3 million for safety failings. Given the track record of the "professionals", we ought to be grateful for other people chipping in.
Platform9
says...
5:36pm Wed 5 Dec 12
the butler
says...
6:41pm Wed 5 Dec 12
pedalling paul
says...
7:35am Thu 6 Dec 12
NR have tried to play down what could have become a very serious incident. Thankfully the fault escalated during daylight and was spotted by a vigilant driver. Had the full failure occurred in the dark, we might be reading a very different story. I hope that the RAIB are tasked to investigate and hold NR to account. Rough riding reports are ignored at the industry's peril.
YorkPatrol
says...
9:50am Thu 6 Dec 12
Caecilius wrote:By all means report the fault but don’t make daft assumptions about subsidence and the cause of the rail fault!
YorkPatrol wrote: Mr Sharp needs to wind his neck in, stop interfering, scare mongering and talking about something he clearly knows nothing aboutThen maybe he could get a job with Jarvis Rail, the company that claimed the fatal Potters Bar crash had been caused by an imaginary saboteur crawling around at dead of night loosening bolts on the track that they were contracted to maintain? Except he can't, because, having caused the death of 7 people through its negligence, Jarvis subsequently went bust. And the organisation in charge at the time, Network Rail - which is still the organisation in charge today - was fined £3 million for safety failings. Given the track record of the "professionals"
, we ought to be grateful for other people chipping in.
Also, it seems Sharpe only “chipped in” after the RMT article was published so it seems he is nothing more than a trouble causer sticking his nose in after the event.
I have no idea where the reference to Jarvis Rail came from – a little pointless, but please bear in mind that the Maintenance contract was taken back in house within Network Rail following the failings by Jarvis
yorkborn66
says...
10:43pm Thu 6 Dec 12
This rail was reported well before the press published the story. Looks like you have made a fool of yourself again!
YorkPatrol says...
12:11pm Wed 5 Dec 12