Bus/Luas collision on O'Connell St

[MOH]

Gf just rang to say there's been a collision between a Luas and a 16 bus at Abbey St/O'Connell St. Ambulance and fire brigade at the scene.

Nothing on breaking news sites yet, but expect delays.

[Mark Hennessy]

Originally Posted by MOH

Gf just rang to say there's been a collision between a Luas and a 16 bus at Abbey St/O'Connell St. Ambulance and fire brigade at the scene.

Nothing on breaking news sites yet, but expect delays.

Was just on RTE tv news there.

Looks like all traffic stopped on O'Connell St.

EDIT: Link to a pic, looks bad
http://www.flickr.com/photos/darragh/3926211414/

[Mark Gleeson]

http://www.railusers.ie/forum/showth...ewpost&t=10510

On the twitter site already

[Mark]

http://twitpic.com/hxljd/full

http://www.fabianowski.de/luas.jpg

Right in the kisser...

[comcor]

I'm a bit unsure about the photo orientation there.

Would the driver have been at the end of the LUAS that got hit?

[igy]

Yep, the driver's end went into the bus first

Hard to tell if the bus ran a red, or the luas ran a signal. Someone was moving that shouldn't have been though...

[ThomasJ]

Originally Posted by comcor

I'm a bit unsure about the photo orientation there.

Would the driver have been at the end of the LUAS that got hit?

nah i think its the top

Edit: it was, Breaking news saying the tram driver had to be cut from the wreckage

[undo]

Here's a picture I shot some half an hour ago on my way to work.

Edit: Also, from looking at it on the ground, I do not think the driver thought he would "fit through". In that case, the Luas would have just clipped the tail end of the bus. Instead, it hit it right in the center.

Edit 2: From that picture on flickr, you can see the luas is derailed with its front off to the left. To me this means after hitting the bus, it got dragged along - so the bus must have been moving at some speed.

[MOH]

It's definitely the front of the luas that hit the bus.

O'Connel bridge traffic cam live video is showing all but rightmost two lanes of O'Connle bridge closed, northbound traffic being diverted on to Eden quay. Nothing coming southbound on O'C st, except an ambulance just gone through.

Eden quay looks to be moving surprisingly well considering.

Originally Posted by ThomasJ

nah, i reckon its one of those things where the bus stuck in traffic, its tail was stuck on the luas track and the luas driver thought hed fit through. saw he wouldn't and swerved to avoid only to smash into the side of the bus

looks like like that to me.

[undo]

O'Connell St southbound is closed at Parnell St. That's the route I came walking and guards were diverting traffic there.

[weehamster]

I hope nobody is seriously hurt.

I have to say that I have never heard of a tram driver jumping the lights. I`m afraid that I can`t say the same about bus drivers.

[Mark Gleeson]

21 hospitalised, 3 serious

[ThomasJ]

Originally Posted by Mark Gleeson

21 hospitalised, 3 serious

hope all will be ok!

[ThomasJ]

Originally Posted by fat controller

thomas j what sort of idiot are you first you say the luas tried to swerve out of the way of the bus now you have eyewitness's telling you the luas jumped a red light you must be a bus driver cos they never jump red light's, by the way the luas run on a different set of signal's! think next time!

Hold on a sec i was merely suggesting what could have happened i admitted it was a stupid thing to say.

With regards to luas being at fault the only reason i mentioned that was because i know someone who was there and says the traffic light was at green at the time and also that someone on boards mentioned that their brother was on the bike just ahead of the bus and the light was green.
i wasnt there im just saying what i was told. Maybe it could have been a problem with the luas signalling im sure we will find out.

Noones perfect. Attack the post not the poster.

[undo]

It could have been so many things - even a signal misfunction (green for the bus, go-ahead for the luas) or a brake failure or, or, or... No point in speculating right now. And certainly no point in attacking anyone!

Edit: As for the current situation, if I am interpreting the pixelated webcam image correctly, there should be a crane on site right now. A friend just headed over to check whether they are actually lifting the luas off the tracks.

[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.
Advertisement

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