Disturbing incident, early February, when a 30 year-old “sprinter” train entering Leeds station on a Calder Valley service, became uncoupled, its two coaches separating as they came to a halt. Thankfully such incidents are rare. And on a railway designed to be fail-safe, when the compressed-air pipe running along the train is broken, the brakes come on automatically to stop in the shortest distance possible. So passengers waiting at the station were delayed whilst several lines were closed allowing passengers on the broken unit to be helped out and walked to safety. There will doubtless be an inquiry about why the coupling on this train failed, and we must await the results patiently. But, meanwhile, we can’t help thinking: is pressure on depot time a factor in this kind of failure, given the shortage of trains? Isn’t this another argument for keeping guards on all trains? And what if, instead of mid-afternoon, this train that split in two exposing gaping gangways had been a crush-loaded commuter service?
Header Image: “Leeds station name sign (3 Mar 17)” flickr photo by Daniel H Wright https://flickr.com/photos/danielhwright/32482341114 shared under a Creative Commons (BY-NC-ND) license
Halifax and District Rail Action Group 