In the aftermath of the tragic accident on London Tramlink at Sandilands in November 2016 which saw seven people die after a tram came off the tracks when overspeeding around a curve, the RAIB made several recommendations to improve safety on UK tramways. This included tram systems being required to fit systems to prevent overspeeding and the Blackpool Tramway have been working alongside Alstom to fit new equipment to the trams for the rolling out of not only this but also obstacle detection.
The two systems which are being fitted to the trams are known as the Collision and Overspeed Monitoring and Prevention Assistance System (COMPAS) and the Obstacle Detection Assistance System (ODAS). The second system is more obvious to the casual observer as cameras are being fitted to the trams and these can be seen in the cab windows.
So far, 001, 002, 003, 016 and 017 have been fitted with the equipment with the plan being that the entire fleet will be so fitted by the end of the year (October/November is the plan). Blackpool Transport believe that they are the first system in the world to retrofit existing trams with this equipment.
The obvious advantages of the new equipment are that the safety around the tramway will improve. ODAS in particular will be able to detect any obstructions on the line and will apply the tram’s service brake so as not to cause issues on board with an emergency stop.
Alstom engineers have recently been in Blackpool to view the system in action and are planning to release a video of this at the Global Transport Awards in June.
- A video of Chris Davies, Blackpool Transport Head of Tramway, explaining the system can be viewed on Podbaba Transport’s YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFLUjA1YfNQ
003 is one of the trams fitted so far. The cameras of ODAS are viewable below the destination screen. (Photograph by Michael Morton. 22nd May 2023)