That part of Sydney is remote - on the fringe of the city

Post #78,314

1/31/03 4:59:20 AM

The heavy train traffic is on the lines from the west which is more or less straigh inland from Sydney city.

I for one am surprised an accident would happen down there. I don't ever recall of one there before (Wade ?) whereas the western & northern lines have had their regular share.

My bet is that in the heat (has been stinking hot in Sydney) the rails buckled & if as Wade mentioned, the train was going a bit faster than normal, over she goes.

Doug
(Was a co-founder of the Blue Mountains Commuters Assoc many years back)

Post #78,315

by static

1/31/03 5:08:16 AM

It was a bit unusual, I'll grant.

I'm pretty sure the line has not been totally accident free, but there hasn't been anything like that for a long, long time. Even the most recent in Sydney was a year or so ago out past the northern fringe (Hexham: goods train and inter-urban train collided; the cause is still unknown) and then 3 or 4 years ago on another line (Glenbrook: a Lithgow inter-urban ran up the back of the Indian Pacific; there were signal failures) and the one prior to that was, IIRC some 20 years prior (Granville; a suburban train jumped the tracks and hit a road bridge's central pillar). We've had train breakdowns a plenty, fortunately they usually stay on their rails!

Yesterday (i.e. the day before the accident) was very very hot: a lot of Sydney hit the low 40s. It is possible there was some line or equipment buckling. But I as I opened with, I very much doubt the South Coast line has been free from accidents all it's life. It was a very difficult line to build, with hideous grades and curves.

Wade.

Is it enough to love
Is it enough to breathe
Somebody rip my heart out
And leave me here to bleed

Is it enough to die
Somebody save my life
I'd rather be Anything but Ordinary
Please

-- "Anything but Ordinary" by Avril Lavigne.

Post #78,454

by kmself

1/31/03 3:23:34 PM

Memories of Sydney rail...

The two-level cars, many of which do have some semblance of air\r\nconditioning, and raised platforms, combined with what appears to be a\r\nnot-entirely lost art of actually walking places, and the trend\r\ntoward shorts, skirts, or summery dresses among women, makes for some\r\nexcellent gamwatchting. Mmmm....

\r\n\r\n

And to think that some people seemed to feel it was only good for\r\nwatching feet. As I said then, "If you lift your gaze a few\r\ndegrees...".

\r\n\r\n

I can fully appreciate calf idolization.

\r\n

--\r\n Karsten M. Self [link|mailto:kmself@ix.netcom.com|kmself@ix.netcom.com]\r\n [link|http://kmself.home.netcom.com/|http://kmself.home.netcom.com/]\r\n What part of "gestalt" don't you understand?\r\n [link|http://twiki.iwethey.org/twiki/bin/view/Main/|TWikIWETHEY] -- an experiment in collective intelligence. Stupidity. Whatever.\r\n \r\n Keep software free. Oppose the CBDTPA. Kill S.2048 dead.\r\n[link|http://www.eff.org/alerts/20020322_eff_cbdtpa_alert.html|http://www.eff.org/alerts/20020322_eff_cbdtpa_alert.html]\r\n

Post #78,490

by Meerkat

1/31/03 5:23:20 PM

1/31/03 5:31:08 PM

Heh, I remember my Mum talking about the controversy

when the double-decker carriages were being introduced. Apparently there was the usual tabloid-newspaper-style indignation about the inappropriateness of having people sitting so low, should a lady in a skirt walk by.

As for crash updates - the derailed train had a 'black box' data recorder. It was retrieved undamaged,anaylsed, and found to be not actually switched on. Apparently the black boxes were a recommendation after the previously mentioned train disaster at Glenbrook... I guess actually switching the black boxes on will be a recommendataion after this event. :-/

(Edit: Spelling in subject line)

John. Busy lad.

Edited by Meerkat Jan. 31, 2003, 05:31:08 PM EST

Expand All History

Post #78,582

by static

2/1/03 12:11:26 AM

Double-decker capacity.

IIRC, Sydney has one of the highest passenger-per-train capacities in the world, largely due to almost all trains being 8 double-decker carriages.

Wade.

Is it enough to love
Is it enough to breathe
Somebody rip my heart out
And leave me here to bleed

Is it enough to die
Somebody save my life
I'd rather be Anything but Ordinary
Please

-- "Anything but Ordinary" by Avril Lavigne.

Post #78,597

by kmself

2/1/03 3:13:09 AM

HDDD

They're pretty high-density double-deckers too, with an underslung\r\nlower deck. Double-decking largely doubles carrying capacity.

\r\n\r\n

US DD systems are fairly common -- the rolling stock on both the\r\nChicago Metra and Peninsula Cal-Train are identical. While there are\r\ntwo levels to the trains, the top decks are sort of "mezzanine" style.\r\nBenches are three-seaters below, but only single-seaters above, so the\r\ncapacity boost is only about 25% for the higher set of seats.

\r\n

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