RSC savages Irish Rail over lax safety

Hungerford

IRISH RAIL failed to provide any proper evidence that it had carried out checks on a viaduct before it collapsed last year minutes after a packed train passed over it.

The railway company's safety record was castigated yesterday in an official report which found major lapses in checks on the structure in Malahide, Co Dublin.

In a further damning indictment, the Railway Safety Commission (RSC) found that Irish Rail has failed to carry out safety checks across the network despite them being a condition of its licence to operate.

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/report-slates-irish-rail-for-litany-of-safety-failures-2267946.html

It's worth noting that someone doesn't appear to like Dick Fearn & Co. - the report was never meant for publication but leaked out. It's well worth reading the article - it's pretty scary reading.

Cookie_Monster

some of that is pretty damning to say the least. Hopefully a lot of media will pick up on and draw attention to this, it being quiet season and all.

linked article wrote:

IRISH RAIL failed to provide any proper evidence that it had carried out checks on a viaduct before it collapsed last year minutes after a packed train passed over it.

The railway company's safety record was castigated yesterday in an official report which found major lapses in checks on the structure in Malahide, Co Dublin.

In a further damning indictment, the Railway Safety Commission (RSC) found that Irish Rail has failed to carry out safety checks across the network despite them being a condition of its licence to operate.

The probe into the collapse at Malahide by the RSC also found that the "vast majority" of safety checklists "have never been used" and the required number of inspections are "not being achieved".

The investigation report into the collapse of the viaduct last August also says there is a "lack of evidence" that Irish Rail checked for erosion -- which caused a pillar supporting the track to collapse -- because inspectors could not gain access to the bottom of the structure to complete an examination.

The RSC probe is one of three investigations being carried out into the collapse of the viaduct on August 21 last year.

Last March, the internal Irish Rail investigation found that the reason the bridge fell into the Broadmeadow Estuary in north Co Dublin was because the seabed was being washed away from at least 2006, undermining the foundations of a pillar that supported the track.

Engineers failed to realise that the foundations needed to be maintained because the knowledge had been lost as staff retired or moved to other positions in the company.

A second report, by the Railway Accident Investigation Unit (RAIU) -- an independent body attached to the RSC -- will be published next month.

Disappointed

The RSC refused to comment on its findings last night, saying it was "disappointed" the report was being made public, adding that it was prohibited from commenting on an accident that was being investigated by the RAIU.

However, its report raises serious questions about the safety culture in Irish Rail, which is obliged by law to implement a Safety Management System (SMS) and prepare a 'Safety Case' which must be approved by the RSC.

The Safety Case is a high-level document that describes the SMS and demonstrates how the company assesses and controls risk.

The RSC report identified four instances of non-compliance with the standards which relate to a failure to undertake inspections and checks, failing to use the correct form of inspections and failing to implement a "competence assessment" for safety staff.

It also found that safety staff had not been issued with job descriptions setting out their responsibilities, despite the company telling the RSC in 2006 that safety responsibility statements would be issued to staff in "safety critical positions" by December 2007.

"Clearly, this remains incomplete," the report says.

The RSC warned in 2006 and 2007 of the company's safety culture, while a high-level review of safety standards carried out by the Department of Transport in 2008 found that expensive safety systems were "difficult to use" and safety reporting arrangements were "fragmented".

The Irish Independent has also revealed that critical safety checks were not carried out on the rail network by the RSC because it did not have enough staff.

The safety body last week sought consultants to investigate if key safety information was being lost by the company.

Irish Rail has said that findings of the report "closely coincided" with its internal report, adding that 12 of the 16 recommendations made by the RSC had been implemented in full.

KC61

Pretty damning reading - one would hope that lessons are learned (and quickly).

Hungerford

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

some of that is pretty damning to say the least. Hopefully a lot of media will pick up on and draw attention to this, it being quiet season and all.

I think that the RAIU report will be the main event somehow...

murphaph

Yet more evidence (if any were needed) that IE (and their parengt company, CIE) are NOT FIT to run our railway.

shaungil

no suprise here tbh what would be surprising is if heads roll. Won't be holding my breath as they seem to be a law unto themsleves and no-one in power is prepared to take them on.

foggy_lad

Has Dick fearn not resigned over this?

highlydebased

foggy_lad wrote: »

Has Dick fearn not resigned over this?

Dick Fearn seems to enjoy basking in his portfolio of fatal errors - Loosing safety records, the WRC, Waterford-Rosslare, MKIII's, 'accidentally' scrapping locos etc etc. And he still expects full credit.

foggy_lad

Neon-Circles wrote: »

Dick Fearn seems to enjoy basking in his portfolio of fatal errors - Loosing safety records, the WRC, Waterford-Rosslare, MKIII's, 'accidentally' scrapping locos etc etc. And he still expects full credit.

not to mention the sale of sleepers and god only knows what other scandals are yet to be uncovered!

KC61

Well so far the Chief Inspector at the RSC has retired (somewhat earlier than expected) and the Chief Civil Engineer has left IE (albeit for a different reason).

KC61

Neon-Circles wrote: »

Dick Fearn seems to enjoy basking in his portfolio of fatal errors - Loosing safety records, the WRC, Waterford-Rosslare, MKIII's, 'accidentally' scrapping locos etc etc. And he still expects full credit.

While I would concur over the safety records and the untimely withdrawal of the Mark 3 fleet, I'm not sure why you are blaming him for the WRC - that was a purely political decision.

Incidentally, what locos were "accidentally" scrapped? I'm not aware of any.

Stonewolf

murphaph wrote: »

Yet more evidence (if any were needed) that IE (and their parengt company, CIE) are NOT FIT to run our railway.

Little bit off topic but not really worthy of its own thread, the news last night was talking about a body being set up to examine whether state agencies were better kept in state possession or privatised, one of the bodies being looked at is apparently CIE.

Cookie_Monster

KC61 wrote: »

Incidentally, what locos were "accidentally" scrapped? I'm not aware of any.

I would assume he is talking about 141's. they have re-instated many of the one currently left as they've realised they are needed for various duties.

especially with the constant failures of 071's

Hungerford

foggy_lad wrote: »

Has Dick fearn not resigned over this?

It's highly unlikely he will. After all, he didn't resign over the following incidents that occured on his watch:

* Cahir Viaduct collapse, 2003 [although he shouldn't have resigned over that one because IIRC he had just arrived at the company]
* Skerries derailment, 2008
* Malahide viaduct collapse, 2009
* Theft of materials by staff at a major depot
* A record Equality Tribunal award against his company in a case that he was directly involved in

Interestingly, all the accidents listed above were partly caused by poor record keeping and failure to carry out various safety checks. There have also be a host of minor accidents which were also partly caused by the same issues.

I should add that one of the more downplayed aspects of his CV was a stint as a senior manager at the infamous UK network operator Railtrack.

JHMEG

Stonewolf wrote: »

Little bit off topic but not really worthy of its own thread, the news last night was talking about a body being set up to examine whether state agencies were better kept in state possession or privatised, one of the bodies being looked at is apparently CIE.

I think commercial semi-states just go on the list by default. CIE will never be sold off as no-one would buy it.

They're really only looking at the likes of the ESB and Bord Gais, and maybe some of RTE.

JHMEG

Hungerford wrote: »

It's highly unlikely he will. After all, he didn't resign over the following incidents that occured on his watch:

* Cahir Viaduct collapse, 2003 [although he shouldn't have resigned over that one because IIRC he had just arrived at the company]
* Skerries derailment, 2008
* Malahide viaduct collapse, 2009
* Theft of materials by staff at a major depot
* A record Equality Tribunal award against his company in a case that he was directly involved in

Isn't there also an issue of procurement irregularities, and didn't he refuse to answer related questions from an Oireachtas Committee?

interlocked

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

I would assume he is talking about 141's. they have re-instated many of the one currently left as they've realised they are needed for various duties.

especially with the constant failures of 071's

I'm afraid not. 171 has been returned to traffic but is limited to Inchicore-North Wall-Connolly, basically the Connolly pilot.

Two others are being used as pilots in Inchicore works, and that's it.

merengueca

Hungerford wrote: »

I should add that one of the more downplayed aspects of his CV was a stint as a senior manager at the infamous UK network operator Railtrack.

Infamous? Really? Maybe not the best idea that ever graced the railways, but in comparison to IE.....

Most management that existed in RT have at east 'evolved' and moved on from that mess into something, that not perfect by a long stretch, but at least accountable and safe. Wether Dick Fearn would have made that transition, I doubt it... Dick Fearn just seems to emulate Dr Beeching at his worst, minus the decency to at least acknowledge what he is doing!

Cookie_Monster

interlocked wrote: »

I'm afraid not. 171 has been returned to traffic but is limited to Inchicore-North Wall-Connolly, basically the Connolly pilot.

Two others are being used as pilots in Inchicore works, and that's it.

yeah, they're active even though they were "withdrawn for good"...

Hungerford

merengueca wrote: »

Infamous? Really? Maybe not the best idea that ever graced the railways, but in comparison to IE.....

In fairness, they managed to kill more people over its sorry six year existence than IE ever has in its entire history since 1987.

Hungerford

JHMEG wrote: »

Isn't there also an issue of procurement irregularities, and didn't he refuse to answer related questions from an Oireachtas Committee?

I thought that staff stealing materials from a major depot and misleading the Oireachtas were minor offences in the scheme of things.;)

Hungerford

Just a little blast from Dick Fearn's past:

'I spotted track fault'

Railtrack took urgent safety action this week in the wake of the Potters Bar disaster at the insistence of an Evening Standard reader, who alerted them to possible new dangers on one of the country's busiest lines.
Engineers replaced a rail clamp after they had been told it was coming off the main line at Watford Junction - near the scene of an August 1996 accident in which one person died and 69 were injured after the driver of a passenger train passed a red signal and hit an empty train.
The clamps are used on sections of track which have defects such as brake burn - where the braking process has damaged the track - or fatigue.
The potential danger was spotted by commuter Rupert Lodge, a qualified mechanical and electrical engineer - though not in the rail industry - who travels between Bletchley and Euston.
Three weeks ago he contacted Railtrack because he believed there were a remarkable number of clamps on the line near Watford, indicating concerns about track quality.
He particularly noticed one had come loose and was shifting down the line. He reported it to a rail supervisor and the problem was rectified a few days later.
However, last week he noticed the same clamp had again worked its way loose and had shifted. On Tuesday this week he found the shifting clamp had fallen apart and was in pieces beside the track. He complained again.
Within hours that evening Mr Lodge was called to a meeting with Railtrack officials on the platform at Watford Junction. They told him a new type of clamp with lock-nuts had been installed. Mr Lodge, said: "I told them that if the clamp fell off completely they could end up with a terrible accident. If there was later to be an accident, I didn't want someone to say they knew nothing about it."
Mr Lodge, who met Railtrack's information asset manager Peter Halliwell, added: "I'm not a clamps expert but I had a vested interest in that track as a train passenger and just wanted to make sure something was done to fix an obvious problem."
Railtrack last night promised the clamp and section of line would be regularly inspected.
Richard Fearn, zone director of Railtrack Midland, told Mr Lodge: "I am extremely concerned that instructions may not have been carried out...and this has resulted in an inquiry leading to disciplinary action against the individual concerned."

Full piece here: http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-441861-i-spotted-track-fault.do

The paper was getting so many complaints about Fearn's zone and others around London that they set up a dedicated hotline.

foggy_lad

interlocked wrote: »

I'm afraid not. 171 has been returned to traffic but is limited to Inchicore-North Wall-Connolly, basically the Connolly pilot.

Two others are being used as pilots in Inchicore works, and that's it.

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

yeah, they're active even though they were "withdrawn for good"...

is this really relevant in this thread?

Dubstar07

Regardless of these incidents, the simple fact is that IE are not an organisation which is fit to deliver a public rail service. When compared to public rail systems elsewhere in Europe, they are well behind.

I have used mostly DART services and find that they are very substandard, in many aspects. Most recently I was on an train from Howth, where a lady had collapsed on the train whist waiting at the station for departure. I happened to be in the same car so could see what was going on.

The IE staff were on the carriage but never bother to notify the other passengers that there was going to be delay. Some 15 minutes passed until they eventually did. And the PA was not working in the incident car!!

foggy_lad

To be blunt and honest I could not understand why they would not simply move the woman from the carriage onto the platform and let the dart return to service. Maybe a bit callous but people faint every day on trains and life goes on so why delay hundreds just because one person is in need of assistance?

Victor

Hungerford wrote: »

In fairness, they managed to kill more people over its sorry six year existence than IE ever has in its entire history since 1987.

In fairness, Railtrack were running an actual railway, not a series of lines that often only have one train on them at any given time, making collisions rather difficult.

murphaph

Hungerford wrote: »

In fairness, they managed to kill more people over its sorry six year existence than IE ever has in its entire history since 1987.

It's easy not to kill people when you run just a handful of trains, at agonisingly slow speeds with speed restrictions all over the place.

Cookie_Monster

foggy_lad wrote: »

is this really relevant in this thread?

Excuse me, Mister On-Topic nazi
:rolleyes: