Quote:
Originally Posted by Mickey H
A post on IRN (a site I tend not to believe) claims the two governments agreed an exemption to the new Northern Ireland regulations so that any IE train can still cross the border if there are two people in the cab. Can anyone confirm or deny this story?
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Possible yes but this would make IE the only UK rail operator (yes I mean what I say) to ever achieve this status, every steam locomotive in the UK on the mainline now has a digital black box and TPWS, RPSI are fitting at the moment, and you would think they would be first in the queue to use the exemption
It would take formal action by the NI Home Office, the Irish Government has no say in the matter in any way, there would be a formal application in Irish Rail's name to the office of the appropriate department in Stormont
I've seen a photo of an IE train without TPWS in Northern Ireland with only one person in the cab which clearly disproves this claim
Current procedures which are rigidly followed is any NIR non fitted with CAWS (basically any 80 class, 450 class or C3K numbered above 3006) must have a second driver/guard/inspector in the cab when operating south of Dundalk, note NIR will nearly always send a low numbered CAF set to avoid this need