Irish Rail driver injured by brick dropped from bridge

Run_to_da_hills

"An Irish Rail driver was injured after a brick smashed his window on the outskirts of Belfast. The brick was dropped from a bridge as the Enterprise train passed through Lambeg, near Lisburn, Co Antrim, on its way to Dublin last night. Police said the driver sustained a minor injury to his eye. He was able to complete his journey to Dublin.

Lisburn area commander Chief Inspector Darrin Jones said: "This was an unbelievably stupid and dangerous act. Not only was the life of the driver placed in jeopardy but also those of the passengers. "The individuals who dropped that brick need to consider what could have happened had the driver been seriously hurt or if they had caused a tragedy. How would that feel?"

I hope this scumbag gets caught, could have been nasty. Fair play to the driver for continuing the journey on to Dublin.

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/irish-rail-driver-injured-by-brick-dropped-from-bridge-3085459.html

Louche Lad

Good of the driver to continue, but should he have done? I admit I don't know anything about driving trains, but do the rules allow someone to continue with a) a smashed window, b) an eye injury, and c) perhaps being a bit shook up?

Cookie_Monster

90mph with a smashed window :eek:
I bet it certainly was fresh in there by the time he got to Dublin

mikemac1

Just a technical question

I've read about a "dead man's switch"

If there some equivalent on Irish trains? If the driver got knocked out and another staff member wasn't immediately available does the train throttle down and stop?

Just interested to know, that's all

Run_to_da_hills

mikemac1 wrote: »

Just a technical question

I've read about a "dead man's switch"

If there some equivalent on Irish trains? If the driver got knocked out and another staff member wasn't immediately available does the train throttle down and stop?

Just interested to know, that's all

They had them on the AEC Railcars, and Metrovics so I would presume they are a feature on all modern trains.

I think its foot operated.

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

90mph with a smashed window :eek:
I bet it certainly was fresh in there by the time he got to Dublin

Enterprise 90mph LOL.

Jamie2k9

I think its foot operated.

There is a saftey pedel and once the drivers foot moves the train will make an emergency stop. There are other saftey features that will also put train into emergency stop.

Run_to_da_hills

Jamie2k9 wrote: »

There is a saftey pedel and once the drivers foot moves the train will make an emergency stop. There are other saftey features that will also put train into emergency stop.

I presume technology is out there to stop a runaway train remotely from database / control room. They have been talking about bringing it in for cars over the last number of years.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2003/dec/21/transport.ukcrime

CIE

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

"An Irish Rail driver was injured after a brick smashed his window on the outskirts of Belfast. The brick was dropped from a bridge as the Enterprise train passed through Lambeg, near Lisburn, Co Antrim, on its way to Dublin last night. Police said the driver sustained a minor injury to his eye. He was able to complete his journey to Dublin.

Lisburn area commander Chief Inspector Darrin Jones said: "This was an unbelievably stupid and dangerous act. Not only was the life of the driver placed in jeopardy but also those of the passengers. "The individuals who dropped that brick need to consider what could have happened had the driver been seriously hurt or if they had caused a tragedy. How would that feel?"

I hope this scumbag gets caught, could have been nasty. Fair play to the driver for continuing the journey on to Dublin.

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/irish-rail-driver-injured-by-brick-dropped-from-bridge-3085459.html

Oh isn't that great.

DMU windscreens are a bit large. Would it be expensive to build "ghetto bars" to fit them? (This is a GM F40PH of the Boston, Massachusetts commuter rail services.)

Run_to_da_hills

CIE wrote: »

Oh isn't that great.

DMU windscreens are a bit large. Would it be expensive to build "ghetto bars" to fit them? (This is a GM F40PH of the Boston, Massachusetts commuter rail services.)

Metrovics and Class 80's would have looked kind of cool with them on.

Seems to be a popular option in India and South Africa.

This looks somewhat like a 201 class / DVT end would look like with them on.

devnull

I heard of this happening in the UK from bridges on Motorways, please don't tell me it's going to spread to here now, it's disgraceful and those carrying out such dangerous and selfish acts need to be punished severely.

foggy_lad

CIE wrote: »

Oh isn't that great.

DMU windscreens are a bit large. Would it be expensive to build "ghetto bars" to fit them? (This is a GM F40PH of the Boston, Massachusetts commuter rail services.)

Those little grills won't stop a breeze block or length of kerbing at any decent speed.

Dublin Spotter

I heard of this happening in the UK from bridges on Motorways, please don't tell me it's going to spread to here now, it's disgraceful and those carrying out such dangerous and selfish acts need to be punished severely.

NI is in the UK!!!

Judgement Day

devnull wrote: »

I heard of this happening in the UK from bridges on Motorways, please don't tell me it's going to spread to here now, it's disgraceful and those carrying out such dangerous and selfish acts need to be punished severely.

It has been happening on Ireland's railways for years, around the Cabra and North Wall areas in particular.

dmcronin

mikemac1 wrote: »

Just a technical question

I've read about a "dead man's switch"

If there some equivalent on Irish trains? If the driver got knocked out and another staff member wasn't immediately available does the train throttle down and stop?

Just interested to know, that's all

Its a foot pedal, an alarm goes off in the cab every so often. If the driver doesn't cancel it by pressing the pedal and taking his foot away again the brakes come on. The underlined part is important as an unresponsive driver with his foot or his kit bag resting on the pedal would have bypassed earlier systems.

dowlingm

Who currently writes the regulations which govern what standards Irish rolling stock are made to in terms of glazing and so on? Is it RSC or are there EU Directives?

To get an idea of US glazing standards, see CFR 49 Part 233

Cookie_Monster

Should be ttreated as attempted murder, would go some way to disuading scumbags from doing it. What would the be charged with currently, criminal damage?

Run_to_da_hills

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

Should be ttreated as attempted murder, would go some way to disuading scumbags from doing it. What would the be charged with currently, criminal damage?

Multiple attempts of murder, passengers lives were also at stake if the train was to fo a runner if the dead mans brake failed.

CIE

Dublin Spotter wrote: »

NI is in the UK!!!

We're all in the EU. You know, the empire where they want to get rid of national identities and replace them with an artificial European identity...

Stark

devnull wrote: »

I heard of this happening in the UK from bridges on Motorways, please don't tell me it's going to spread to here now, it's disgraceful and those carrying out such dangerous and selfish acts need to be punished severely.

I remember years ago some guy suffered severe chest injuries when some scumbags dropped a concrete block off a bridge on the South link road in Cork.

Kristopherus

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

Should be ttreated as attempted murder, would go some way to disuading scumbags from doing it. What would the be charged with currently, criminal damage?

In N.I. & UK it almost certainly will be that charge , but here it would probably be a public order offence:mad:

n97 mini

devnull wrote: »

I heard of this happening in the UK from bridges on Motorways, please don't tell me it's going to spread to here now,

It was going on for years here. Generally any pedestrian overbridge that's now enclosed has been enclosed because there were "incidents". The first one I remember being enclosed was on the Tallaght bypass.

Judgement Day wrote:

It has been happening on Ireland's railways for years, around the Cabra and North Wall areas in particular.

It's more stoning than rock dropping, though in Broombridge it's not as popular a past-time as it once was. I've been on a few trains where a window in my carriage has been broken by a rock.

bmaxi

n97 mini wrote: »

It was going on for years here. Generally any pedestrian overbridge that's now enclosed has been enclosed because there were "incidents". The first one I remember being enclosed was on the Tallaght bypass


IQUOTE]

That was as a result of a concrete block being dropped through the windscreen of a car, seriously injuring a young man. The young man never recovered and as a result of his injuries became epileptic, he died from drowning after taking an epileptic fit while on a fishing trip.

Judgement Day

n97 mini wrote: »

It was going on for years here. Generally any pedestrian overbridge that's now enclosed has been enclosed because there were "incidents". The first one I remember being enclosed was on the Tallaght bypass.


It's more stoning than rock dropping, though in Broombridge it's not as popular a past-time as it once was. I've been on a few trains where a window in my carriage has been broken by a rock.

What I'm referring to is the hanging of concrete blocks from overbridges not stone throwing which is another issue altogether,

n97 mini

Judgement Day wrote: »

What I'm referring to is the hanging of concrete blocks from overbridges not stone throwing which is another issue altogether,

Oh right. You should have said that then!