Railway Accident Investigation Unit Annual Report
Railway Accident Investigation Unit Ireland Annual Report i 2018 Foreword The purpose of the Railway Accident Investigation Unit (RAIU) is to independently investigate occurrences on Irish railways with a view to establishing their cause/s and make safety recommendations to prevent their reoccurrence or otherwise improve railway safety. It is not the purpose of an investigation to attribute blame or liability. In 2018, fifty-two preliminary examination reports (PERs) were completed by the RAIU based on reports of incidents and accidents from Transdev and Iarnród Éireann (IÉ); including reports of: rolling stock faults; Road Rail Vehicle (RRV) occurrences; self-harm occurrences; earthworks failures; energy faults; tram and heavy rail derailments in depots; cattle strikes; tram road traffic collisions; fire; buffer stop collisions and one user worked level crossing collision accident. Of the fifty-two PERs, three full investigations into individual incidents/accidents that occurred on the IÉ network, namely: • Collision of an InterCity Railcar with a buffer stop at Laois Train Care Depot, 17th July 2018; • Wrongside Door Failure at Ashtown Station, 12th August 2018; • Vehicle struck by train at Cartron level crossing, XM220, Co. Mayo, 17th August 2018. In addition, a trend investigation into RRV incidents and accidents on the IÉ network was commenced, which includes the review of RRV occurrences from 2015 to 2018, inclusive. One investigation report was published in 2018, ‘Derailment of DART passenger service, at Points DL115, Dun Laoghaire, 13th September 2017’ resulting in a total of seven new safety recommendations being issued. The new recommendations related to: the training and competency of staff in terms of performance of duties and safety critical communications; management of major customer disruptions; the design and fitment of points clips; and, the placement of detonator protection.
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