TRAM: British and Australian (American usually streetcar also trolley) noun [C] An electric vehicle that transports people, usually in cities, and goes along metal tracks in the road. (Taken from the Cambridge English Dictionary)
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This Page was last updated Thursday 5th July 2007
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RAIB RELEASE REPORT INTO SEATON DERAILMENT
Seaton Tramway – Thursday 5th July 2007
The RAIB have released their report into the derailment of tram 10 at the Seaton Terminus back on 18 March 2007. It appears that the derailment was caused by “persons unknown” placing an object in the points.
The incident happened at 1255 when 10 was approaching the Seaton terminus having operated the 1231 service from Colyton. At the entrance to the station is a set of points which lead to a siding and on the morning of the incident these had been altered to allow a supervisor to drive 14 into the siding for use later on in the day. When he changed the points back he noticed that the point lever pin was difficult to reinstate. As there were a large number of passengers waiting the 1240 departure from Seaton it was decided to use 14 as a duplicate service immediately behind the timetabled departure. The supervisor drove the tram himself and assumed the points had returned to their normal position behind him.
As 10 approached Seaton the driver examined (from him driving position) the points and decided they were fit to pass over. He then switched his attention to ensuring that the trolley pole had taken the correct route – there is a trolley light which indicates whether this has occurred. The tram derailed as it passed over the points with the leading bogie splitting the points and all wheels derailing. The trailing bogie correctly took the right hand route and did not derail. The brakes were applied and the tram stopped 8.5 metres after it had derailed. The derailed wheels had come to rest on a tarmac surface and neither the driver or the 10 passengers on board suffered any injuries.
The RAIB were satisfied that excessive speed was not an issue in the derailment. The tram was re-railed with services recommencing from 1350 on the same day.
Initially, the incident was not reported to the RAIB but it was subsequently discovered that vandalism had been taking place around the area. On 4 April 2007 there was a clear case of stones being placed in the blades of the points and the Devon and Cornwall Police are now investigating.
The official causes of the derailment are:
* The immediate cause of the derailment was the left hand switch of the points lying open, which may have been caused by the placing of an object between the switch and stock rail by persons unknown.
* A contributory factor was the lack of visual indication to the driver of the switch position at the approach to Seaton station.
* A contributory factor was the design of the weighted lever at the points, which provides the opportunity for unauthorised persons to open the switches and place a stone between the switch and stock rails.
The report also makes a couple of recommendations:
* The Seaton Tramway should replace the weighted lever at the entry to Seaton station with a point lever that is capable of being locked when not in use, in order to prevent it from being used to move the points without authority. The points could be operated from the lever via a slotted joint, and be spring loaded, so that operational flexibility is not lost.
* The Seaton Tramway should implement, so far as is reasonably practicable, the provision of visual indicators that show to drivers whether sprung and weighted points on the system that are used by trams carrying passengers are correctly set for the normal route.
The report does also mention that because of a breakdown in communication over the weekend the incident occurred it was not possible to examine the site until early-mid April.
* The full report can be downloaded from the RAIB website here – and includes diagrams and photos of the affected area.
