Bus/Luas collision on O'Connell St

[undo]

From http://www.luas.ie/page.php?name=Dis..._Red_Line_Luas:

RED LINE SERVICE ----------- Thursday September 17 2009

The Luas Red Line is operating this morning between Tallaght and Smithfield stops only.

Luas tickets are valid on Dublin Bus.

We apologise to Luas Passengers for any inconvenience.

Should you wish to speak with a member of Customer Care please contact Luas Free phone 1800 300 604.

Information is also available from AA Roadwatch.

Thank you,

Luas Customer Care

[markpb]

A number of people on boards.ie have mentioned that passengers inside the tram could not open the doors after the crash. I'm assuming they had enough sense to use the manual release instead of the button (you never know) and still had no luck.

Surely the area around the doors wouldn't be reinforced enough to stop the doors compressing in a crash? I doubt the Luas was moving at much speed so the impact-damage should have been fairly minimal.

[Mark Gleeson]

All the doors on the Luas where open when I saw the tram

The problem lies in people assuming the doors will open when the emergency handle is pulled, you still need to push the doors and pull them apart as per the notice next to the handle

The structural integrity of the passenger area was uncompromised, no sign of any distortion which would have restricted the doors opening

[markpb]

Originally Posted by Mark Gleeson

The problem lies in people assuming the doors will open when the emergency handle is pulled, you still need to push the doors and pull them apart as per the notice next to the handle

That's probably it.

[Mark]

Assuming the Luas was operating as per the signalling system blame would lie with the bus and visa versa. Going by past accidents on the red line human error is more than likely the cause but it could be with either parties or both.

Hopefully the 3 separate accident investigations will come to the same conclusion..

At the corner where the accident occured the sightlines to the right of the tram are actually quite good and the fact that the tram hit the bus in the centre all seem very confusing. The trams normally stop outside Easons to await a signal to cross the road so how the bus got halfway across the tram path before the collision beats me.

I wonder if the tram stopped outside Easons at all?

I bet this has put a bit of a delay on the Line C1 testing..

Edit:

According to CIE now, the road traffic had a green light.

Bus in tram crash had green light- CIE
listen Thursday, 17 September 2009 12:09

The Chairperson of CIE has said investigations into the Luas and bus crash on O'Connell Street in Dublin will show that the Dublin Bus driver had a green light.

A Dublin Bus and Luas tram collided yesterday afternoon at the O'Connell Street, Abbey Street junction.

More than 20 people were taken to hospital after the accident, which took place just after 3pm.
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Chairman Dr John Lynch said the Railway Safety Commission will cover all aspects of what happened yesterday afternoon.

He said the investigation will take some time to be completed.

Dr Lynch said it will look at whether there was a problem with the Luas operation; given the fact the bus driver had a green light. He said the bus driver is badly shaken but alright.

Dr Lynch said that he has reviewed CCTV footage of the incident.

He said that a full investigation will need to take place before the full details of what happened emerge.

Dr Lynch said that whatever occurred was out of the ordinary given the wide nature of the street.

Dublin Bus has been in contact with the passengers affected.

This morning, O'Connell Street reopened to all traffic.

Disruption to services on the Luas Red Line continues with services running only between Tallaght and Smithfield.

Both the Luas and the bus have been removed from the scene.

Three people are said to be in a stable condition in hospital.

GardaÃ*, Veolia Transport and Dublin Bus are investigating the cause of the collision.

GardaÃ* concluded their investigation of the crash scene at 4am

[Mark Gleeson]

What might be interesting is the position of the sun, it was behind the tram and quite bright. There is a possibilty that the reflection made the luas traffic signal look like a proceed (bar down) or a conditional proceed (cluster of lights)

There is plently of CCTV so the exact cause will be know, there is of course a chance that the traffic lights showed proceed to both at the same time.

[plant43]

I don't think the fingerpointing by CIE is going to help matters. They should be taking the Veoila stance and not commenting on the investigation.