Rovos Rail crash

[John Ashworth]

Runaway train: Warning screams futile

2010-04-21 23:04 News 24
Virginia Keppler, Beeld and AP

Pretoria - The traumatised owner of the Rovos Rail train which derailed just outside Pretoria said on Wednesday he screamed at others to jump - but his warnings came too late.

"I screamed at the others (the passengers and crew) to tell them to jump off," Ruhan Vos said of the train which sped out of control for about 10km from the Centurion station in the direction of Pretoria.

"I jumped off while it was moving."

Vos said the train stopped in Centurion where tourists were allowed to look at the steam locomotive which would take them to the Capital Park station.

The tourists got back on the train. Workers unhooked the electric locomotive and were busy replacing it with the steam locomotive, when the carriages started rolling backwards, said Vos.

Hand-brakes pulled up

Nobody was able to stop the 19 carriages. "Three of the carriages' hand-brakes were pulled up, but that wasn't enough," Vos said.

Sixteen of the carriages crashed into each other and the others were overturned when it derailed. Some of the carriages landed on two of the passengers.

Three people, one of whom was a pregnant woman, died in the accident.

The stomach of an employee of Rovos Rail, who was reportedly just over four months pregnant, was ripped open by the impact of the accident. She died at the scene.

Another employee died after a train carriage was lifted off her.

Sarel Coetzee, a senior planner at the Pretoria station, and his colleague, Gert Span, were the first people at the scene.

"It was just after 11:00 when we heard a loud crash," said a shocked Coetzee. "We started running in the direction of the crash. When we got there, there were people everywhere screaming for help.

"They were crying. It was chaos. I've never seen anything like it.

"People tried to climb out but they couldn't. Gert and I started breaking the carriage windows and helped people get out.

"There were one or two people in some of the carriages. Two people were trapped under a carriage and we tried to help one of them, but couldn't. When the emergency services arrived and lifted the carriage, the woman died right there."

Span told of how a man's back was broken. "It was the first man we helped. It was awful. It was gruesome."

Trauma

Werner Vermaak, spokesperson for ER24, said: "Patients were strewn all over the scene.

"Some of the passengers were thrown from the carriages and others were trapped inside. Most of the injured people sustained multiple bone fractures."

Altogether 25 tourists and some of the train's personnel were admitted in a serious condition to various hospitals in Pretoria and Johannesburg.

The remaining 68 people who were on the train were taken to the Blue Train lounge, and from there they were taken by bus.

The train derailment comes just seven weeks before hundreds of thousands of foreign tourists are expected to descend upon South Africa for the FIFA World Cup.

Isolated incident

Transport Minister Sibusiso Ndebele said in a statement that the derailment was an isolated incident that would not affect "the country's ability and readiness to host the tournament."

Vos said there were 44 Americans, four South Africans, three Germans, four Brits and four French citizens on the train, as well as 30 staff.

The two-day Cape Town-Pretoria trip can cost up to R22 000.

Rovos Rail offers holiday trips across Africa.

The Rovos Rail website says the trains can carry as many as 72 passengers in 36 cabins.

The train travels around South Africa and to Namibia and Tanzania.

The train also traverses the famed "Cape to Cairo" route, a month-long journey between Cape Town and Egypt's bustling capital.

[Craig Duckham]

Has anybody in the Pretoria area taken any pictures of the reck/clean up?

[John Ashworth]

The train also traverses the famed "Cape to Cairo" route, a month-long journey between Cape Town and Egypt's bustling capital.

Just noticed that last line in the News 24 report a couple of posts up. As far as I know Rovos Rail only goes as far as Dar es Salaam in Tanzania. It would be rather difficult to take the Rovos train further north due to the gauge change. But do they have a package whereby passengers complete the Cape to Cairo journey by other means? Presumably not by other trains as there are no luxury trains at least between Tanzania and Egypt, and no rail link at all that goes all the way, even with gauge changes.

[John Ashworth]

Paul Ash's comment: Runaway trains: Rovos wasn’t the first, and won’t be the last

[John Ashworth]

From sar-L

As many of you know I'm a long standing friend of Rohan Vos and I've just
returned home from visiting Capital Park. Having also been involved with
drafting the Rail Safety Regulator Act and also the first series of Safety
Management Systems I have some Idea of what happens within the RSR as well.

I think there is an understanding of what happened yesterday but speculation is
not helpful in this regard. Not for any reason of censorship but this is a
public forum and its possible that the media may get hold of it and, having seen
yesterday's terribly uninformed coverage, make something out of it which is not
accurate. There are also various things such as liability, insurance claims, etc
to take into account. Its worth saying that on last nights e-news at 8pm the
Rail Safety Regulator spokesman was very positive towards Rovos Rail, stating
the the SMS had recently been audited and found to be robust and the Rovos Rail
had an excellent track record.

Although there is an air of sadness around the place, not surprising given the
circumstances, the Vic Falls train left on time today and the Cape Town train is
scheduled for tomorrow.

Rohan and Anthea are being fully supported by the staff, a magnificent bunch all
of them. Three staff and a baby have died and its like a family loss.

Most coaches involved are beyond repair, sadly including 1911 built Dining Car
148 Pafuri and 1936 built 220 Kei. When you look at pictures of the scene you
see just how well the coaching stock stood up to the enormous impact otherwise
there would have been many more injuries and fatalities. I did not visit the
accident scene, the sight of all those wrecked coaches was too much to
contemplate.

This is a personal e-mail and not an official communication from Rovos Rail.

Regards
Geoff Pethick

[Andreas Umnus]

The train also traverses the famed "Cape to Cairo" route, a month-long journey between Cape Town and Egypt's bustling capital.

Just noticed that last line in the News 24 report a couple of posts up. As far as I know Rovos Rail only goes as far as Dar es Salaam in Tanzania. It would be rather difficult to take the Rovos train further north due to the gauge change. But do they have a package whereby passengers complete the Cape to Cairo journey by other means? Presumably not by other trains as there are no luxury trains at least between Tanzania and Egypt, and no rail link at all that goes all the way, even with gauge changes.

I watched just the movie I once recorded to see how far the journey with the train goes. The terminus was Dar es Salaam and all passengers left the train there and flew further to their next destinations.

In German TV was years ago a report of a journey by Rovos Rail to Dar es Salaam and I recorded it. It is much about the people how ride on that train and what happened on that tour. It is an interesting movie.

[Greg Hart]

this just in

http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/ ... r-20100423

[Derek Walker]

From IOL.. April 23 2010 at 07:01PM

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1 ... 558C479935

Handbrakes of the luxury train that rolled away and derailed in Pretoria on Wednesday were not on, the Railway Safety Regulator has found.

Neither were the scotches wedged under the wheels of the train as required, acting CEO of the regulator Carvel Webb said on Friday.

"In terms of regulations, Transnet was supposed to have done it," said Webb, explaining that it was Transnet Freight Rail's electric locomotive which had brought the train from Cape Town to Pretoria.

"If I leave a load, I must make sure the brakes are on. So now we are asking the question, if there was any other arrangement, why didn't it happen?"
After bringing the coaches to Centurion, the electric locomotive was uncoupled and left the area while Rovos Rail's steam locomotive waited to be coupled onto the coaches for the last grand run into Pretoria's Capital Park station.

Instead, the coaches rolled downhill towards Pretoria, picked up speed and eventually derailed.

Two women, one of whom was pregnant, were killed in the accident. A third woman later died in hospital. All three were employees of Rovos Rail.

Webb said the investigation found that the Transnet locomotive driver had applied the train's vacuum brakes before leaving.

But, in terms of regulations, handbrakes on at least six of the coaches were also supposed to have been applied.

"You need to apply those brakes on five or six carriages so that the train remains locked," he said of the large wheels that drivers turn until they lock to keep the train stationary.

Then, scotches must be wedged under the wheels of a train staged on a gradient.

"You mustn't release the brakes of the train until you have got the locomotive coupled on it again."

He said it was admitted by Rovos Rail that they ran alongside the train trying to put brakes on, but were not successful.

The vacuum brakes alone are deemed not to be sufficient because of the unpredictability of how long they last.

"They could last for hours, the could last for days," said Webb.

"You never rely on vacuum."

He said it was true there were problems with a delay on the signals, and the brakes were under pressure.

"That is correct, but Rovos and Transnet should have applied handbrakes and put wedges on the wheels."

As a result of these findings, the regulator issued an "improvement directive" to Rovos Rail and Transnet Freight Rail.

A statement from regulator spokesman Lawrence Venkile said that in terms of the directive, both had to show that procedures that ensure that the roles and responsibilities for the hand-over of the load from one operator to the other were clearly defined.

They must show procedures relating to when the train brake is applied when the train is staged, that sufficient number of handbrakes are applied and, that scotches are applied when the train is staged on a gradient.

They must also show procedures that state that brakes must also not be released until a locomotive has fully coupled to the load.

Said Webb, "There doesn't seem to be a very explicit procedure in place between these two operators relating to the hand-over procedure."

Venkile said the directive was issued because the regulator was worried about safety issues.

Once both companies have shown which procedures they have in place, the regulator will then decide what to do.

The train was carrying 55 passengers, mostly foreign tourists, and a crew of 30. - Sapa

[John Ashworth]

I think this is the same article, from the Times. A stark headline: Handbrakes on Rovos train were not on

The Times also has another headline, Regulator rips into Rovos rail, although when you read this very brief article, "rips into" seems rather like hyperbole.

A third Times article informs us: Tracks nearly clear of derailed Rovos coaches and gives some travelling information:

Clean-up crews have cleared almost all the Rovos Rail coaches from the tracks where they derailed in Pretoria, Metrorail said on Thursday...

In a statement, [Metrorail spokeswoman Nana] Zenani said Pretoria and Johannesburg Metrorail lines other than those affected by the derailment remained operational.

"Metrorail customers travelling from the Pretoria region were this morning [Thursday] able to travel by Metrorail and converge at Bosman Station as a temporary point and were bused from there to Centurion," she said.

Zenani said commuters from Johannesburg could take trains to the Centurion Railway Station from where they were being bused to the Bosman and Koedoespoort railway stations.

Once the track had been repaired, Metrorail would also operate a train shuttle service using diesel (non-electric) locomotives to haul trains between Pretoria and Centurion.

"This will take place on the adjacent tracks which were not affected by the derailment as a temporary link between Pretoria and Centurion while clearing is being finalised," she said.

"This will further eliminate commuter delays and continue the Metrorail service to its customers."

Customers were advised to expect train delays and schedule changes.

[John Ashworth]

Found here

Here is Rovos Rail's statement in its entirety, issued Thursday, April 22:

"At 10h30 on Wednesday 21 April, a Rovos Rail train en-route from Cape Town to Pretoria stopped at Centurion Station to change locomotives. The electric locomotives then uncoupled whilst our steam loco stood by to move on to the main line. The signalling system was temperamental and delayed this process by 45 minutes. While the steam loco was waiting for a signal change, the train started moving alongside it. At the time our train manager and a group of guests were waiting on the platform at the front to observe the locomotive change. On noticing the movement, the manager and loco staff applied handbrakes to three carriages, which was not enough to stop the momentum on the significant decline out of Centurion Station towards Pretoria. The train then proceeded for 10 km down to Pretoria Station where it derailed due to excessive speed across the points leading into the station. The occurrence is being investigated.

"On a very sad note three of our staff members died in the accident, while two were hospitalized. At this time one passenger is in hospital in a serious but stable condition, and six others are being treated for fractures.

"There were 19 carriages on the train of which 15 are damaged beyond repair. Clean-up activities are in progress and all vehicles are expected to be removed from the track by midnight tonight.

"The operation of the business will continue as usual with the Victoria Falls service having departed this morning [April 22] and Cape Town departing tomorrow afternoon [April 23]. The loss of the rolling stock is being assessed but all trains will be departing as planned."

[John Ashworth]

MORE ON THE ROVOS DERAILMENT

Posted on 02 May 2010 by Railways Africa Editor

At approximately 10:30 on 21 April, a Rovos luxury passenger train from Cape Town halted at Centurion, 8.9km south of Pretoria main station, to change engines. This is a standard Rovos procedure, the last portion of the journey being completed under steam power. On this occasion, however, after the electric motive power had been uncoupled and drawn away, a general signal failure in the area delayed the attachment of the steam loco for some 45 minutes. During this time the train started to move.

Unfortunately the line northwards from Centurion is on a continuous downgrade, as Pretoria station lies 124 metres lower. In the course of nearly 9km, the train picked up speed, eventually derailing. Some of the 19 coaches ended up piled on top of each other, the others spread about and blocking the main-lines at the south-eastern approach to Pretoria station. Fifteen coaches were irreparably damaged, including timber-bodied dining cars 148 Pafuri (built 1911) and 220 Kei (1936). This was the first accident involving a Rovos Rail train in the 20 years of the company’s existence.

Tragically, there were three fatalities, all members of the train staff, of whom one – who had been pregnant at the time – apparently miscarried in the accident. Most of the 55 passengers on board were foreign tourists, mainly American, and there were some 30 staff personnel. A number of people were admitted to hospitals, several hurt seriously.

Ambulances experienced difficulty reaching the hospitals, because of roads blocked by some 6,000 protesting taxi drivers.

During coverage of the derailment on etv, the newsreader commented that police helicopters were circling the scene. A strong police presence, which increased at dusk, was probably due to people on the koppie behind the accident who were apparently waiting to steal from the train, once it got dark.

Extensive dislocation was caused to Metrorail services, with buses replacing trains to and from Centurion – a process expected to continue for several days.

Freight trains and long-distance Shosholoza Meyl trains from Johannesburg to Limpopo and Komatipoort were rerouted via Sentrarand – as was the scheduled Rovos southbound train to Cape Town on 23 April. A northbound Rovos excursion to Victoria Falls left Pretoria on schedule on 22 April.

[ The Rail Safety Regulator in a statement said that an “improvement directive” was being issued to Transnet and Rovos. Handbrakes had not been applied on at least six coaches at Centurion, as required by standing regulations, nor had scotches been placed under the wheels. – editor

[Rene Vink]

the last post dates from May 4th.
First of all my heart goes out to the victims and their relatives involved in the tragedy.

I have two questions on the matter.

I'm not very knowledgeable in braking systems, but isn't it an inherent danger in vacuum brake systems that the vacuum slowly deteriorates when a train is standing still? I read the procedure of changing locomotives was delayed by as much as 45 minutes. That seems to me a lot of time for a vacuum in no less than 12 coaches to remain intact!!
This article for Afrikaans/Dutch readers or for English readers, although may be not knowledgeable either, points in that direction.

second: does anybody know about anything from official side, investigation results or the like??

[John Ashworth]

Rene, there's been a bit of discussion somewhere on this thread about vacuum brakes, and there's a thread dedicated to the topic here.

You're right that there is always a danger of the vacuum bleeding away, which is why handbrakes and/or wooden wheel scotches should be applied. However in practice the vacuum does not bleed away quickly, and it would be very surprising if it had bled away from every coach in the train in as little as 45 minutes - it usually lasts for hours if not days. Nobody wants to speculate too much before the results of the enquiry come out, but one hears speculation that the strings might have been pulled, thus releasing the vacuum - again see here for an explanation of that.

As far as I know there has been nothing official yet, except that Rovos Rail (and other heritage operators including FOTR) were issued with an Improvement Notice by the Rail Safety Regulator instructing them to clarify their use of handbrakes and their interface procedures (ie when handing over from one operator to another, as was the case in the Rovos incident).

[Steve Appleton]

I cannot comment on the official investigation which, as at last week, had not been published.

What I can say is that the vacuum brake system is very simple and very reliable. The residual vacuum in the top of each of the vacuum brake cylinder can remain for a long time... as much as days in my experience. Each cylinder has seals that can obviously vary in effectiveness. Some leak quickly, some don't. However if they are routinely serviced and tested then they should generally be good.

The rule book specifies how long the brakes can be relied on. It seems that the Rovos train was uncoupled from a loco for somewhat longer than that time due to signalling problems. Most observers believe that even though the loco change took longer than normal, the train brakes should not have leaked off so quickly. Perhaps one or two vehicles but not so many that the train was sufficiency brake-less as to run away. It seems reasonably clear that no handbrakes were applied. but this was not unusual in this scenario - in fact, the norm.

So, why did this runaway happen? Why did a procedure that not only Rovos, but also the mainstream railway fraternity, has been doing for years go so wrong? Until the RSR report is published, we will never know for sure. Many of us have theories, but no proof and therefore cannot speculate.

We all need to know, because this is how we learn. Let us hope that the RSR does not decide to keep this report confidential - too often the SA norm.

[Steve Appleton]

John makes a good and important point about pulling the stings". In this, the vehicle's brakes are released by a cord or wire connection to a lever on a valve mounted at each cylinder, releasing that cylinder's residual vacuum and consequently releasing the brakes on that vehicle. This is one of the vacuum brake system's Achilles' heels and is is dangerous in the wrong circumstances because, it leaves that vehicle unbraked and even the fail-safe mechanism is destroyed. However, this is necessary if it one must move a vehicle which is not attached to a locomotive.

It is also useful where the train brakes cannot be released fully (and bind) due to a lower vacuum being created by a new locomotive that has a lower brake vacuum setting that was created before. This also can happen when the new loco is coupled to the opposite end of the train and the vacuum gradient through the train is reversed. Under these circumstances it has become customary to "release the brakes - pull the strings" through the train, thus leaving the train brakeless until the vacuum is fully recreated.

I leave you to work through the consequences if this is done before a locomotive is coupled on and the brake pipes are connected through and the vacuum is fully restored! Not saying that this is what actually happened... we do not know... so, this is just a speculation.