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A report into a freight train
derailment at Sheffield station,
11 November 2020 by the Rail
Accident Investigation Branch
(RAIB) has alerted track
maintenance staff for the need
for effective management of
track gauge in tightly curved
track.
Last year 16 wagons of a
freight train that was conveying
cement powder from Hope,
Derbyshire, to Dewsbury, West
Yorkshire, derailed at the north
end of Sheffield station. A
number of wagons were
damaged and there was
significant damage to the track,
resulting in a partial closure of
the station. No one was
injured.
The train was coasting
through the station at a
constant speed of around 12
mph when the leading right-
hand wheel of the twelfth
wagon dropped into the space
between the two running rails,
because the rails were too far
apart: a problem known as
gauge widening. The train
stopped when the signaller
observed a number of
signalling equipment failures
indicated on a display screen
and alerted the driver to a
problem.
The track gauge had
widened because a number of
track screws, that secured the
rails and baseplates to the
wooden bearers, had broken,
allowing the rails to spread
apart under the loads from
passing trains.
Although this was a location
with a potentially high risk of
derailment, it had not been
recognised as such because
Network Rail’s guidance for
identifying such risk had not
been applied.
Recommendations
RAIB made four
recommendations to Network
Rail concerning the
implementation of processes
for identifying high derailment
risk locations, the
implementation of safety-
critical changes to its
processes, standards governing
fitment of check rails, and track
geometry data formats.
RAIB has also identified
three learning points for track
maintenance staff alerting them
to the need for effective
management of track gauge in
tightly curved track, the
limitations of geometry alerts
provided by static measuring
equipment, and the importance
of monitoring track geometry
trends for the identification of
track deterioration.
DERAILMENT LESSONS
AT SHEFFIELD
Network Rail handed recommendations regarding
high derailment risk locations
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