Der Stand der Dinge: (Zusammenfassung unten)
Associated Press:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/articl...OCwAwwD99IHV9G0
The four most seriously injured victims in a weekend light-rail crash were improving Monday, as a union official said the operator of the train had blacked out [Anm. in Ohnmacht fallen] just before the collision with a parked train.
Two of the victims were in good condition, one was fair and the fourth had been transferred to another hospital for non-medical reasons, said Rachael Kagan, spokeswoman for San Francisco General Hospital.
[...]
Federal investigators reported Sunday that Gray had turned off the train's automatic controls moments before the collision.
Lum said drivers under pressure to keep their trains running on time turn off the controls before entering the West Portal station to speed loading and unloading.
"Basically it was understood that it was OK based on the fact that passengers were complaining about long waits getting to the platform," Lum said.
[...]
"We will do everything we can to ensure that this sort of accident never happens again," Nathaniel Ford, executive director of the San Francisco agency, said in a statement.
The NTSB's Turpin said the operator never engaged the emergency brake, and a mechanical inspection of the train that caused the accident has so far not uncovered any problems.
Investigators had not yet interviewed Gray and typically wait until a crash victim's health has improved before conducting interviews. Gray had not been involved in any major accidents before Saturday, Lum said.
[...]
Mercury News.com
http://www.mercurynews.com/topstories/ci_1...?nclick_check=1
What safeguards are in place to prevent Munitype crashes?
It's known as a "dead man's lever" — a spring-loaded grip held by train operators that should stop a train automatically if the driver suddenly keels over.
BART has it. The Valley Transportation Authority's light-rail system has it. And so does San Francisco's Muni light rail, though it remains under investigation how one Muni train crashed into another Saturday, injuring 47 people, after the operator reportedly blacked out.
[...]
Yet VTA, Caltrain and aboveground Muni trains are all operated manually. Transit officials say this is the safest method when trains run along busy city streets where pedestrians, bicyclists and automobiles may be in close proximity, and a driver sometimes needs to make a snap decision to hit the brakes.
The San Francisco Chronicle reported Monday that Henry Gray, the operator of the Muni train, blacked out moments after taking manual control of the Muni train. It then crashed into a parked train at 23 mph.
[...]
If a similar incident happened on a light rail train in the South Bay, the train would "immediately" stop, said Jennie Hong, a spokeswoman with the VTA.[Anm.Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority]
VTA drivers clutch a spring-loaded handle as they guide a streetcar along. A sudden change in the pressure applied by the driver would automatically stop the train, she said.
[...]
Had the driver kept the autopilot on, the train would have slowed before arriving and probably not careened into the other train, National Transportation Safety Board investigator Ted Turpin said.
But for years, Lum said, drivers pressured to improve on-time performance would manually move their trains out of the tunnel and directly behind the stopped train ahead.
SFGate (San Francisco Chronicle)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?.../MN9818S8N8.DTL
Muni Metro operators routinely switched trains from automatic to manual control before entering West Portal Station, a violation of Muni safety rules that may have helped cause Saturday's crash, a union official and a former light-rail train operator said Monday.
Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board say that the operator of the train that sped into the station and crashed into the rear of another train had shifted out of automatic control - which maintains a safety buffer between trains - 24 seconds before entering the station. Muni regulations require operators to get approval to shift into manual mode before they enter the station.
As officials search for answers, the head of the union that represents Muni operators said it is a long-standing and common practice to switch to manual operation early so the train can enter the station while another is parked there, speeding travel and permitting passengers to transfer at the West Portal station.
[...]
When underground, Muni Metro trains operate under automatic control, their speeds and braking governed by a computer. The computer is programmed to keep trains from running into each other. But when the light-rail trains move onto city streets, operators control the trains manually. Operators are supposed to make the switch after entering West Portal Station.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/matier..._id=43923&tsp=1
If a driver doesn't go into manual mode in the tunnel, the train will automatically stop well short of the platform when another train is in the station. Lum said passengers get upset when that happens, so drivers go to manual in order to pull up behind the train that is already on the platform -- allowing riders to exit.
Read more:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/matier...1#ixzz0LtzxvWS3
Noch ein Karte von der Unfall-Station West Portal. (Ich bin einem Missverständnis aufgesessen, die Station heißt West Portal und ist gleichtzeitig das West Portal des Tunnels. In Castro ist nix passiert.
Google-Karte
Zusammenfassung des Unfalls.
In der Station West Portal in Fahrtrichtung Straße steht an der Station, die mindestens zwei Züge fassen kann, schon ein Zug einer Linie. Der Unfallzug kommt aus dem Tunnel, der Fahrer hat von Automatik auf Manuell umgeschaltet, um in die Station einfahren zu können. Bei dem vorgeschriebenen Automatik-Betrieb auf der Tunnelstrecke, desen letzte Station die oberirdische West Portal-Station ist, kann nur ein Zug in eine Station einfahren. Ist die Station besetzt, hält der Zug davor. Es hat sich unter den Fahrern aber eingebürgert an dieser Station schon frühzeitig beim Anfahren auf Manuell umzuschalten, um den Platz ausnützen zu können und im Fahrplan zu bleiben und die Fahgäste zufrieden zu stellen. So macht es auch der Fahrer des Unfallszugs an diesem Tage. Dann wird er ohnmächtig und der Zug prallt führerlos - ohne eine Betätigung von Bremsen - auf den schon in der Station stehenden. Ein Totmann-Schalter (dead man's lever) scheint nicht vorhanden zu sein, bzw. er ist nicht solcher Art, dass er Ohnmachtsanfälle so kurzfristig bemerkt.
- aber das Anzugsmoment an Steigungen ist echt beeindruckend 