Did you know that freight train derailment makes up 40% of the risk of freight train operation? (Gov.uk)
In the early hours on the morning of Christmas eve 2021, a 33-wagon freight train was entering the rail terminal, at low speed, into the London Gateway port in Essex. 5 wagons of the middle part of the train derailed when the wheels suddenly lifted off the track. There were no injuries, however the damage to the infrastructure disrupted access into and out of the port for 2 weeks.
RAIB (the Rail Accident Investigation Branch) released a report on the incident, and made three recommendations; “One is directed to VTG Rail, the owner and developer of the triple-wagon, covering the need to identify and implement any necessary design changes and operating restrictions. The second is directed to GB Railfreight, the operator of the train, covering the need to develop instructions and best practice guidance for its operations staff. The third is directed to RSSB covering the need to raise the rail industry’s understanding of the derailment risks associated with longitudinal compressive forces and the management strategies that need to be introduced.”
If you want to have a deeper read into the report, click the link below:
Here at KITE Projects, we provide engineering solutions to help keep the rail network moving. KITE Projects help to eliminate the risk factors from your projects, through collaborative design and engineering to create bespoke and sustainable solutions.
For us, collaboration means that we gain an understanding of the potential risks to the network. Through this discussion we fulfil our brand purpose of ‘protecting your network’ for the benefit of all users – whether this is by designing and installing equipment and solutions that protect your physical assets, delivering safe workforce access systems, or developing bespoke products that ensure your environment, staff and customers stay safe.
KITE Projects are driven by a desire to design sustainable solutions that reduce the impact to the network of incidents – such as the one detailed above. The team at KITE would be delighted to engage with you on our design led approach. When we fully appreciate the issues, we can collaborate to design and engineer the solutions.
Give one of the team at KITE a call on 01962886290 to find out more about how we are protecting your network.