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High-speed train collision in Spain kills at least 39

bbc.com

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Re: High-speed train collision in Spain kills at least 39

#81

Post by [deleted] »

cyode wrote: post #47
sillysaurusx wrote: post #29

If you’re interested in this kind of thing, look up plainly difficult on youtube. He has more videos on train crashes than I’ve seen, and I’m embarrassed how many I’ve seen. Here’s one to get you started: https://youtu.be/VV2rIHEp5AM?si=sSBT9s49PqbLTGbt There are a lot of safety lessons embedded in these videos, which is why I like them. I also did a double take when I heard "semaphore"; its history goes back far lon…

No cause is known yet, but based on the videos, what’s the most likely reason for crashes? Bad tracks? Some human error resulting in collision?

[deleted]

Re: High-speed train collision in Spain kills at least 39

#82

Post by rob74 »

bigmeme wrote: post #45
sillysaurusx wrote: post #29

If you’re interested in this kind of thing, look up plainly difficult on youtube. He has more videos on train crashes than I’ve seen, and I’m embarrassed how many I’ve seen. Here’s one to get you started: https://youtu.be/VV2rIHEp5AM?si=sSBT9s49PqbLTGbt There are a lot of safety lessons embedded in these videos, which is why I like them. I also did a double take when I heard "semaphore"; its history goes back far lon…

Oh you silly duck! Semafor is a common word in a handful of other languages for things like traffic lights and such. I had to do a double take when I first saw it in a programming class. Also hope you’re doing well it’s been a minute since our paths crossed on gdnet.

"Semaphore" is (old) Greek and means "sign (sema) bearer (phore)", and actually the meaning in railways and computing is more or less the same: in computing, a semaphore signals if a resource is in use; in railways, the resource is a segment of a railway line, and the user is a train.

Re: High-speed train collision in Spain kills at least 39

#83

Post by melted_cursor »

elnatro wrote: post #53

[flagged]

> The current government has been found to be cutting corners

Where do the articles mention that the current government has been cutting corners? In fact, they have increased the current investment plan on the Cercanías commuter railway network to more than 7,000 million euro, from 5.000 million that the previous government planned[1].

Now, this isn't to that the current political landscape is fine because ( as portrayed by the last articles ) is totally unacceptable, and of course that affects the rail network negatively.

[1]: https://maldita.es/malditateexplica/20231212/cercanias-madri...

Re: High-speed train collision in Spain kills at least 39

#84

Post by rawling »

elnatro wrote: post #53

[flagged]

From [2] (machine-translated):

> The accident occurred near Atocha station, on a curve where signage indicates a speed limit of 45 kilometers per hour. However, sources consulted by this newspaper assert that the train, out of control, easily approached speeds of 90 to 100 kilometers per hour, ultimately resulting in the derailment. [...] Two mechanics who were inside the wrecked train escaped injury.

Any indication they deliberately derailed the train?

Edit: yes! E.g.

https://www.theolivepress.es/spain-news/2024/10/22/railway-w...

(Non-specific?)

https://euroweeklynews.com/2024/10/26/investigation-reveals-...

(Says the train was diverted away from others, rather than deliberately derailed maybe)

Re: High-speed train collision in Spain kills at least 39

#86

Post by orwin »

seanmcdirmid wrote: post #80
karmakurtisaani wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Copy pasting AI vomit is like leetspeak or all caps. Should not be used in online discussion.

I disagree, but we are all entitled to our own opinions, and I get that there are a lot of luddites on HN these days. The fact that you consider it vomit rather than useful information just says more about you than me. If there was just a wiki page on how railway terms were used in computing, I would have just linked that (search didn't turn up anything in the first few pages).

At least ask it to summarise. I'm not against reading AI text, but the more verbose it gets, the worst reading it feels.

Re: High-speed train collision in Spain kills at least 39

#87

Post by delta_p_delta_x »

sillysaurusx wrote: post #29

If you’re interested in this kind of thing, look up plainly difficult on youtube. He has more videos on train crashes than I’ve seen, and I’m embarrassed how many I’ve seen. Here’s one to get you started: https://youtu.be/VV2rIHEp5AM?si=sSBT9s49PqbLTGbt There are a lot of safety lessons embedded in these videos, which is why I like them. I also did a double take when I heard "semaphore"; its history goes back far lon…

The basics of mutual exclusion algorithms were developed for railway timetabling and track signalling.

Re: High-speed train collision in Spain kills at least 39

#88

Post by anonu »

cyode wrote: post #47
sillysaurusx wrote: post #29

If you’re interested in this kind of thing, look up plainly difficult on youtube. He has more videos on train crashes than I’ve seen, and I’m embarrassed how many I’ve seen. Here’s one to get you started: https://youtu.be/VV2rIHEp5AM?si=sSBT9s49PqbLTGbt There are a lot of safety lessons embedded in these videos, which is why I like them. I also did a double take when I heard "semaphore"; its history goes back far lon…

No cause is known yet, but based on the videos, what’s the most likely reason for crashes? Bad tracks? Some human error resulting in collision?

I don't want to speculate on this crash but my mental model for these things is that there's always a handful of factors that all align and converge to create an accident. Some factors are deep-rooted - and point to decisions made years ago - sometimes related to company culture. Theres always an element of operator error: someone ignored something due to inattention or sleepiness.

Re: High-speed train collision in Spain kills at least 39

#89

Post by rsynnott »

deadbabe wrote: post #8

Always try to sit in seats where your back is toward the direction of motion.

This is so rare that it's not really worth thinking about, as a passenger (of course, it should be on the _operators_ minds). You're far more likely to die getting to the station.

Re: High-speed train collision in Spain kills at least 39

#90

Post by RobertoG »

elnatro wrote: post #53

[flagged]

I can tell that you really don't like the current government but you should relax a little.

There is an accident with death people, maybe people still trapped there and the causes are still unknown. Too early to start playing politics, don't you think?

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