Further information has been released by the Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) into the derailment of London Tramlink CR4000 2544 at Mitcham Junction on Monday 29th December 2014 at 2355.
The tram was heading away from the stop at Mitcham Junction towards Wimbledon when it derailed at around 7mph (11kmph) with 20 passengers and the driver on board, no injuries were reported and the vehicle only received minor damage.
The derailment occurred just as the track goes from single to double track and in this incident as the tram was pulling away from the stop the driver noticed that an indicator was showing that the points were not set correctly. He brought the tram to a stand and after speaking to the control room he used a manual points bar to change the points until the indicator was showing they were correctly set. The tram was then moved slowly over the points but in the process of doing this the centre bogie and one wheelset of the trailing bogie became derailed.
The RAIB investigation will focus on the points mechanism and the way that it behaves in degraded operating conditions.
RAIB is perhaps the wrong choice for a title. It has long been used by the breweries and beer festivals to describe bottled conditioned beer. It stands for Real Ale In the Bottle(RAIB). I am sure that the original Railway Inspectorate would not want to be associated with DRINKING at work.
Cheers!
Acronyms often clash – the Toronto CLRV (Canadian Light Rail Vehicle) is also the CLRV (Cherry Leaf Roll Virus), and so on….