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A FATALITY OR serious injury could have occurred when a Luas tram collided with a faulty section of the overhead contact system, pulling down an electrical cable and damaging the underside of a railway bridge, an investigation has found.
The incident occurred on the approach to Beresford Place railway bridge in Dublin city last June after an electrical short broke part of the overhead mechanism, leaving a section hanging down over the tramline.
Around four hours later, a tram struck the damaged section and the contact wire became entangled in the vehicle’s pantograph, cutting power to the O’Connell to Spencer Dock section of the line.
It continued to move forward, pulling down the feeder cable, and the pantograph collided with the underside of the bridge, dislodging a number of insulation plates before coming to a stop 30 metres after the point of impact.
A report by the Railway Accident Investigation Unit (RAIU), which was published last week, stated that a fatality or serious injury could have been caused under slightly different circumstances as a result of heavy objects falling in a public area.
The investigation found that the initial electrical short had been caused by a break in one of the kevlar connectors in the overhead contact system, which were in the process of being replaced with stainless steel links at the time of the accident on 11 June 2021.
This caused a bright flash and power was cut to a section of the tramline. A maintenance crew was dispatched to the location at 1.25am and reset circuit breakers, but they did not conduct a visual survey of the section.
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The incident caused an electrical flash on the Luas line Abbey Street Platform CCTV via Railway Accident Investigation Unit
Abbey Street Platform CCTV via Railway Accident Investigation Unit
The RAIU said that such a survey would have identified a partially detached section of the overhead contact system, and said the absence of any requirement to conduct such an inspection was a systemic factor in the accident.
The driver of a ‘sweep tram’ that approached the Beresford Place railway bridge at 5.12am was therefore unaware of the hazard, and struck the cross-span assembly. There were no passengers on board at the time.
The incident occurred on the approach to Beresford Place railway bridge in June 2021 Railway Accident Investigation Unit
Railway Accident Investigation Unit
The tram’s pantograph, which connects to the overhead powerline and conducts 750 volts, was “severely damaged” beyond economic repair, and 100 metres of the overhead contact system had to be replaced as a result of the accident.
Three insulated plates on the underside of the railway bridge had to be replaced, and there was a short delay to an Irish Rail passenger service from Dublin Connolly to Bray while the damage was inspected.
The investigation report made no safety recommendations due to a number of actions already taken by the Luas operator. These include the ongoing replacement of kevlar connections with stainless steel wires.
In addition, a full ground survey of an electrical section is now required in the event of an electrical short.
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Why bother? Most of the money US companies make in this country doesn’t stay in this country. Are they even making an impact on employment – look at tech???
@Sarah Broderick: There are hundreds of thousands working in multinational companies in this country paying a large chunk of payroll taxes and 25% of our overall tax take comes from corporation tax, with the majority coming from a few of these tech/phara compnaies. If these companies stop investing in this country we a banjaxed and there will have to be a large cut in government expenditure to try and balance the budget.
@Will Roche: yes, because that’s a great way to build relationships and network… Some expenditure is worth. Not everything can be done on a shoestring.
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