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expert reaction to train crash in Galicia, Spain

A train derailment in Galicia, Spain on Wednesday 24th July kills over 70 people.

 

Professor Roger Kemp, a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, said:

“From press reports, the train was approaching Santiago de Compostela on a new high speed line. A few kilometres from the city centre the track goes through a 600m tunnel, passes under the Autoestrada do Atlantico and joins the old line before reaching the main station.

“From on-line maps, it appears that the track at this point has a curve radius of about 500 metres. UK practice would be that the speed limit round such a curve would be between 70km/h and 100km/h depending on how much the track is banked.  For a conventional European train, the overturning speed on a curve of that radius would be around 170km/h, depending on the amount of banking, the vehicle centre of gravity and suspension parameters.

“It is reported that the speed limit was 80km/h and driver admitted to the rescue team that the train had been travelling at 190km/h. This is consistent with the above calculations.  One would expect the train to derail at around this speed.

“The big question is why the train was running at more than twice the speed limit. As the driver was leaving the high-speed line to join a much slower route before entering the station, there must have been at least prominent visual warnings to reduce speed, if not audible warnings and an electronic speed supervision system. It has been reported that investigators are studying the possibility of a failure of the braking system or other equipment and, until this investigation is complete, it is not possible to say what caused this accident.”

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