MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
King Juan Carlos visits hospitalized survivors of the Galicia train crash
King Juan Carlos has said all Spanish people feel the pain of the families of the 80 people killed in a high-speed train crash in north-western Spain. The king was speaking on a visit to the dozens of hospitalised survivors in Santiago de Compostela, near to where the train derailed on Wednesday night. Read full article
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Disclaimer & comment rulesYou need to watch the video to really appreciate how high speed and high energy this crash was. It seems obvious that this was down to human error but makes you wonder why such a possibility can be subject to human error in 2013. Trains shouldn't be able to travel at double the speed limit on a given section of track.
Jul 26th, 2013 - 08:59 am - Link - Report abuse 0Apparently the spores limit on that curve was 80kph, and, there was supposed to be an automatic speed limiter. Did that fail?
Jul 26th, 2013 - 09:09 am - Link - Report abuse 0@3 Faz:
Jul 26th, 2013 - 09:39 am - Link - Report abuse 0My local news is telling me that there was a limiter just BEFORE the curve but not on the curve itself. The driver, apparently, had previously boasted ( on Facebook ) of speeding at twice the speed limit.
Looking at a map the station for Santiago is just before the curve in the tracks begin. I wonder if he was “buzzing” the station at high speed in much the same way that Schettino was “saluting” Giglio.
Jul 26th, 2013 - 10:24 am - Link - Report abuse 0Alternatively the track had been straight for the previous 80km and they may have simply not noticed they'd reached the bit where they're supposed to slow down.
The odd fact to throw into the equation is that the driver knew he couldn't make the bend at that speed so I find it hard to believe it was his intention to traverse it at that speed.
>idlehands
Jul 26th, 2013 - 11:31 am - Link - Report abuse 0The driver is still in hospital & as far as I am aware, has not been interviewed yet.
On first face, you would have to conclude that it was human error. However, if there were systems in the drivers cabin to force the train to slow down & they failed, then the driver may have been trying to slow the train too late.
According to the experts, the train is supposed to slow from 200 kph to 80 kph in a matter of a few seconds. Some have suggested that the deceleration is far too quick, but is forced on the drivers because the piece of track that he was on previously was high speed track & if he had slowed down too early it would cause delays for other trains.
It could be that the automatic system failed and he did not have enough time to apply the brakes manually before it jumped off the rails.
One of the passengers said that the train started going very fast. It could be that instead of decelerating, the train accelerated into the curve. I doubt that the driver confused the controls.
I suspect that they will find that the warning system or the automatic braking device failed and the driver simply did not have the time to correct the problem.
it was reported that following the crash he commented that he had “****ed it up”.
Jul 26th, 2013 - 12:09 pm - Link - Report abuse 0http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/spain/10204017/Spain-train-crash-Driver-said-afterwards-he-wanted-to-die.html
- and he kept repeating “we are human” while he was trapped in the cab.
If I were to take a guess I think they probably just weren't paying attention to what they were doing.
Is see the King has recovered from his Elephantine shooting mishap!
Jul 26th, 2013 - 03:15 pm - Link - Report abuse 0I do not know what is the maximum speed these trains are allowed to travel at on the Spanish system by the driver has done 200 kph before, in March last year. See:
Jul 26th, 2013 - 06:17 pm - Link - Report abuse 0http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2377113/Spain-train-crash-video-At-78-people-killed-140-injured-Santiago-Compostela-derailment.html
You will need to scroll down the page a little (sorry it's the Mail).
Remember that energy of moving bodies (anything moving) is 1/2 M V squared.
That is the “weight” divided by TWO multiplied by the SQUARE of the velocity. So if the speed is DOUBLED the total energy increases by FOUR.
ALL this energy has to be converted into other forms of energy (heat, etc.) before the train can come to rest.
The same applies for all the human bodies within the train. Heavy and strong items withstand the impact of people flying into them, so all the energy is absorbed by the body.
Makes you realise what engineers like me have to think about when they design lifting strutures which carry people. I did that for a time when I was 23 YO, but ALWAYS had my figures checked by the Chief Engineer and signed off.
I do wonder. This “driver” is the one that boasted of driving his train at 125mph. Are Spanish railways any better than argie railways? Isn't it reasonable that individuals with the same heredity have the same carelessness with other people's lives? Argie driver drives into buffers. Spanish driver takes a curve at more than twice the speed limit. And the Spanish driver says 'I f***** it up. I want to die' Seems fair to me. He's just killed 78 people. Kill him!
Jul 26th, 2013 - 06:20 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Some drivers have been known to push to limit to see who carries the can,
Jul 26th, 2013 - 06:32 pm - Link - Report abuse 0This is not uncommon, but all trains are fitted with a [ DMH ]
And drivers who have been road trained are well aware of the dangers.
Just a thought, but you will have to wait for the investigation..
.
@8
Jul 26th, 2013 - 10:10 pm - Link - Report abuse 0U + R +A -DI +CK……..Equals.....Full of yourself again. How do you manage to make every post about you?
11 A_Voice aka I Don't Think and the rest of the puppets.
Jul 27th, 2013 - 12:53 pm - Link - Report abuse 0How can I be held responsible for your failure to achieve anything with your life? You should have tried better at school and when you were working; you may have made something of yourself.
Now you are just getting tiresome, so run off and play with the rest of the inmates of whatever mental institution you are presently in: Casa Rosada perchance?, Chew Butt Home for the mentally unstable? WGAF?
The driver will now keep stoom.
Jul 27th, 2013 - 06:27 pm - Link - Report abuse 0we feel sorry for his victims..
11 A_Voice
Jul 29th, 2013 - 10:26 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!!!!!!
You really, really, REALLY are a kn*b arn't you? you really are the limp d*ck in a bag full of fannies arn't you?
Here is a disaster, here are 78 people lying dead,. Sorry, not people, YOUR brothers and sisters and “ChrisR” is trying to explain why so many people died and all you can do is insult him..... Nice one retard!!!
Here's an idea, go back to your playgroup and leave this forum to the adults would you?
Clown
and yet he was of a different opinion, when it happend in Argentina..
Jul 30th, 2013 - 02:52 pm - Link - Report abuse 0[11]
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