Re:Trains were designed to break down after third-party repa...
by jacquesm on Friday December 15, 2023 @08:11AM
(#38653808)
You're an engineer in the passenger rail industry in Poland? If not then you probably will want to familiarize yourself with the state of Polish rail infra before commenting further. It's a small miracle they don't have more accidents than they already do.
The most recent major incident is two months ago:
https://apnews.com/article/poland-train-accident-1db1a088c31...
And there are plenty of others to choose from:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Railway_accidents_and...
There are only two countries in the EU that have worse rail infra than Poland (Romania, Bulgaria). Rolling stock is off mixed quality and vintage, maintenance spotty at best.
Re:Trains were designed to break down after third-party repa...
by nier on Friday December 15, 2023 @07:52AM
(#38653638)
What makes a stopped train on a track 100% safe in terms of other trains or locomotives that might be oncoming? Are signals and means of communication redundant in a way that there‘s no chance of a collision?
Re:Trains were designed to break down after third-party repa...
by Symbiote on Friday December 15, 2023 @08:45AM
(#38654110)
The signalling system is designed so there's no possibility of an oncoming (or path-crossing) train. On a modern system this is done with formal proof of the software, on an old system with mechanical interlocks.
(Edit: you might be able to find some of these online, as regulators sometimes publish them for comment if there is a waiver request… not going to dox myself though)
Your point about external grade crossing hazards is valid… but also completely avoidable unless the train is super long (IE: not a passenger train) or the train was already going slow (like just leaving a station or signal).
There are separate system safety plans to ensure that timely/safe evacuation is possible regardless of where the train stops.
In the absolutely worst case, this means coupling another train and waiting the ~30 mins for people to walk through the train to the new cars, then uncoupling.