Always try to sit in seats where your back is toward the direction of motion.
Or sit in the back of the train rather than the front
Middle.
High-speed train collision in Spain kills at least 39
91–100 of 293 posts
Re: High-speed train collision in Spain kills at least 39
#92[flagged]
Anyone serious about rail engineering or safety isn't excitedly dashing off comments pointing fingers before the dust has even settled. Those who are doing that - such as the comment I am replying to - should be ignored
Re: High-speed train collision in Spain kills at least 39
#93Earlier quoted context omitted.
Unusual for a train though. We already know Americans can't drive but with trains like... how do you mess up a straight line?
> For the last decade, an average of 1,300 trains derailed each year (in the US), accounting for 61% of all train accidents. https://usafacts.org/articles/are-train-derailments-becoming... > In 2024, there were 1,507 significant railway accidents in the EU, with a total of 750 people killed and 548 seriously injured. https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derailm…
I'm half-convinced our good friends the magic robots are totally defeating peoples' ability to read.
> In 2024, there were 1,507 significant railway accidents in the EU, with a total of 750 people killed and 548 seriously injured.
See the graph titled "Rail accidents by type of accident". There were 63 derailments in 2024; most of the accidents were non-fatal accidents of this type: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php...
Re: High-speed train collision in Spain kills at least 39
#94For many years the Spanish state-owned company RENFE had a monopoly on Spain's huge high speed rail network. However their high prices, inconvenient schedules and poor customer service were often criticized, and so when, to the annoyance of RENFE and many spanish politicians, additional foreign operators entered the market on the key Madrid - Barcelona route, ridership doubled whilst ticket prices halved. So I would…
> So I would standby for this tragedy to be used for political purposes This is an ignorant opinion. For multiple reasons. Derailing under these circumstances is a track issue, which means ADIF, the state's infrastructure maintainer, is under suspicion. Not operators, the state's infrastructure maintainer. Liberalization of the railway sector is an EU-wide mandate. It's not some whimsical slip of a single country's l…
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Re: High-speed train collision in Spain kills at least 39
#95[flagged]
Every government in Spain for the last decade or more has been cutting corners in maintaining the rail networks: high speed (where this accident happened), the conventional network and commuter rail. You failed to mention the fact our budget has been extended since 2023, that the actual track where this happened was given maintenance under a year ago (per the minister, [^1]) and the train that first derailed (Iryo's…
According to current minister, the issues come from others before him, so it indeed makes sense to bring that up.
Blaming others for the current underinvestment of the railway network is disingenuous.
Re: High-speed train collision in Spain kills at least 39
#96[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 portr…
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Re: High-speed train collision in Spain kills at least 39
#97Re: High-speed train collision in Spain kills at least 39
#98[flagged]
What does the "Cercanías" conmuter network in Madrid have to do with the high-speed AVE network where the accident took place? They are two different networks, and even if the first one isn't well maintained as you claim, it doesn't mean the other one has to be in the same situation.
Also, it's been four and a half years since the former Transport Minister who is in jail left the office (july 2021).
Re: High-speed train collision in Spain kills at least 39
#99[flagged]
>Indeed last year some machinists had to derail a train to stop it from crashing other[2]. They were pulling it uphill with another unit, and the coupler broke so it rolled backwards and flipped at the curve.
Im what context it is normal to derail a train to avoid a crash with another one?
Re: High-speed train collision in Spain kills at least 39
#100For many years the Spanish state-owned company RENFE had a monopoly on Spain's huge high speed rail network. However their high prices, inconvenient schedules and poor customer service were often criticized, and so when, to the annoyance of RENFE and many spanish politicians, additional foreign operators entered the market on the key Madrid - Barcelona route, ridership doubled whilst ticket prices halved. So I would…
> So I would standby for this tragedy to be used for political purposes This is an ignorant opinion. For multiple reasons. Derailing under these circumstances is a track issue, which means ADIF, the state's infrastructure maintainer, is under suspicion. Not operators, the state's infrastructure maintainer. Liberalization of the railway sector is an EU-wide mandate. It's not some whimsical slip of a single country's l…
>Derailing under these circumstances is a track issue, which means ADIF, the state's infrastructure maintainer, is under suspicion.
This is the most likely outcome, but it is not as cut-and-dried as you are presenting it.
It could be a broken rail weld, it could be track sabotage, it could be a broken wheel or bogie... we don't know yet.