Subway Crash In Bangkok

[kat]

That does seem to be the cut and paste answer for everything lately

[joebuzzard]

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/search/pag...111257&usrsess=

SUBWAY CRASH: Drivers, 2 controllers charged

Published on Jan 22, 2005

The two subway drivers whose alleged recklessness led to Mon-day’s crash and more than 200 injuries were not sufficiently qualified, police said yesterday.

Questioning of Thanaphol Nithichotiyanont and Thawatchai Kanya showed they had insufficient training, Metropolitan Police commissioner Lt-General Pansiri Prapawat said.

The two drivers and two control room officials were charged yesterday with recklessness leading to serious injury.

Thanaphol had said he was “just a train driver”, so he did not have technical knowledge about the train’s braking system, Pansiri said.

A recorded conversation bet-ween the two drivers was found that could be used against them in court, he said while declining to give details.

“The investigation has uncovered a high level of carelessness,” Pansiri told a press conference at the offices of Bangkok Metro Plc (BMCL), the subway operator.

On Monday morning, Thana-phol was manually driving an out-of-service train to the depot near the Thailand Cultural Centre station when it got stuck on a sloping curve in the tracks. Another train driven by Thawatchai was sent out from the depot to push the stalled train to a nearby power contact.

But Thanaphol disengaged the emergency brake, allegedly on a suggestion from the control room, letting his train roll down the slope and slam into a train full of riders waiting to leave the station.

More than 200 people were injured in the accident, two of them seriously. Thanaphol and the driver of the passenger train were also injured.

Thanaphol and Thawatchai along with two Bangkok Metro employees who were on duty in the control room during the collision will face criminal charges, Pansiri said.

Chief traffic controller Kulchart Lao-asoke and control room operator Rangsan Sawasdimongkol did not issue a warning when Thanaphol released the emergency brake code-named B09, which is against operating procedures, Pansiri said. They merely gave an acknowledgement, saying “OK, got that”, when the driver reported his action.

The four suspects could face a maximum three in years jail, Bt6,000 fine, or both, Pansiri said.

Police have questioned more than 130 witnesses, including injured passengers, subway workers and technicians familiar with the subway system.

Three of the suspects – except Thanaphol, who was still hospitalised – turned themselves in to police to face the charges relating to the accident.

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said the subway line would be reopened only after the operator could ensure passenger safety.

The exact date had not yet been set, said Prapat Chongsanguan, governor of the Mass Rapid Transit Authority of Thailand, the state agency overseeing the subway system.

“We are not in a hurry to resume operations. If all the repair work is done and we can make sure people will be safe, services will be restarted,” Prapat said.

Sumalee Hanpanyapichit, Sucheera Pinijparakan

The Nation

[joebuzzard]

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/search/pag...111292&usrsess=

Operator wants nod to restart subway

Published on Jan 23, 2005

The suspended subway is ready to roll now if the government will give the go-ahead, the system’s operator said yesterday.

Trains could run on two sections on either side of the Thailand Cultural Centre Station, the scene of the collision on Monday, Bangkok Metro Plc (BMCL) chairman Pliew Triwissawawet said.

One route would go from Bang Sue to Huai Khwang while the other would connect Phra Ram 9 to Hua Lamphong. The whole line can also go back into operation, he said.

His statement followed a growing number of complaints that the suspension of subway service had caused more traffic congestion on major roads along the route because of greater use of private vehicles.

However, worries remain about safety, since the government and the operator have yet to provide credible reassurance that the problems leading to the crash have been solved satisfactorily.

BMCL will not buy new carriages to replace the ones that crashed. Siemens has been contacted to fix the cars and train the staff because the German supplier installed the rolling stock, Pliew said.

Col Monthien Prateepawanit, a deputy commander at the Metropolitan Police Bureau, said he would wrap up the accident investigation within 30 days.

Two subway drivers and two controllers were charged on Friday with causing serious bodily harm to more than 200 passengers by their recklessness. The drivers were not sufficiently qualified, police have said.

Monthien said police would question 100 more witnesses including injured passengers and BMCL executives. Police want to know details of operating procedures, manuals, staff control and duties, and damage from the crash.

Subway-system specialists from Canada will be questioned tomorrow, Monthien said, adding that he had ordered police to check the accident scene, the crashed trains, closed circuit television and the black box.

The number of hospitalised victims has dropped from 33 to 30, and they are in stable condition, hospital officials said.

[joebuzzard]

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/search/pag...111312&usrsess=

From the Nation's Letters to the Editor

It takes much more than human error to cause a subway accident

Published on Jan 23, 2005

I have been working in mass transit for years. This kind of accident cannot be considered purely a human error. Blaming the subway crash on the driver and operators will not prevent accidents like this from happening again. If this were the case, we would have to find people who have never made any errors in their lives to operate mass-transit systems. Blaming people is misleading.

That's why many mass-transit systems use the automatic train protection (ATP) system to eliminate the risk of human error. This has been normal practice in this industry for years. The question is, where is the ATP for our subway? Why did our subway's system not work as it should have, by which I mean stopping trains that are moving towards each other? Who is the designer of the system, and who approved its use?

I hope The Nation will pursue this thing. Don't let mistakes fall solely on the small group of poor people who operate trains for a living.

Nick

BANGKOK

Stricter standards for public transportation

Published on Jan 23, 2005

The subway accident was just a single incident within a system that has been operating for months. What most people worry about are the normal, everyday accidents involving cars, big trucks and buses.

We wonder why the Transport Ministry does not require people who apply to work as drivers of commercial or public vehicles to obtain a certificate to operate specific vehicles from a vocational or community college. Training courses for those people are very important.

The ministry should seek cooperation from these institutions. I believe this would decrease the number of accidents.

Vichian Sattayatham

[joebuzzard]

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/search/pag...111321&usrsess=

SUBWAY CRASH: One week of safety training

Published on Jan 25, 2005

MRTA wants freer supervisory role of BMCL operations, to review contract

Staff of bangkok’s subway line will spend the next week undergoing additional training on safety measures to prepare them for emergencies before a resumption of services expected on February 1, Transport Minister Suriya Jungrungreangkit said yesterday.

The training course and drills, running from today until next Sunday, will include preparation for train collisions, bomb threats, derailments and fire, Suriya said.

There will be system checks at the weekend, and a final check on Monday, he said, adding that he would also be present on Monday to ensure everything is fine before the reopening.

Experts from Germany will oversee the training and recheck the entire system before its reopening, the minister said. Services are expected to resume on February 1.

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra reiterated yesterday that the rail service would reopen only after the parties involved were able to ensure its safety.

Subway services have been suspended following a collision on January 17 that left more than 200 people injured, including the drivers of both trains involved.

A Transport Ministry investigative committee confirmed that the accident was caused by human error, not by any computer or electronic system failure, Suriya said yesterday, summing up the findings of the committee formed a week ago to investigate why an empty train collided with a passenger train, causing 200 injuries and undermining public confidence in the subway. Transport Ministry deputy permanent secretary Samart Yonpak chaired the committee.

The committee found there were two causes of the accident. First, that operations personnel failed to follow operating procedures correctly and second, that there was a communication failure between employees of the Bangkok Metro Plc (BMCL), which is the concessionaire of the 20-kilometre subway line.

“The human errors occurred because of inadequate training,” said Suriya. BMCL has come under sharp criticism over the way it has been operating the subway. Police interviews of the drivers and control room operators show that they had insufficient knowledge of what they were doing and did not operate the subway system to the required standard.

Suriya said BMCL must provide new and additional training for all employees at both the command level and operations level. Clear communication, respect for the rules and discipline have to be improved among all personnel.

The Transport Ministry will also amend the concession contract with BMCL. The aim is to increase the supervisory role of the Mass Rapid Transit Authority of Thailand (MRTA), which would give it a free hand in assessing BMCL’s operations without having to inform the company in advance.

The MRTA will also ensure that BMCL strictly follows the procedures detailed in the operations manual. Punitive measures will be imposed on BMCL if it fails to provide public safety of the highest standard, he said.

The ministry would take one week to review the contract, Suriya said.

The Office of Auditor General of Thailand yesterday asked the MRTA to review its internal controls to ensure the prevention of similar accidents. This suggestion was made after audit commissioners met MRTA governor Prapat Chongsanguan.

Wichit Chaitrong

The Nation

[RDN]

SUBWAY CRASH: One week of safety training

.........A Transport Ministry investigative committee confirmed that the accident was caused by human error, not by any computer or electronic system failure.....

.......The committee found there were two causes of the accident. First, that operations personnel failed to follow operating procedures correctly and second, that there was a communication failure between employees of the Bangkok Metro Plc ........

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

So does this mean that if a driver wants to crash his train into another, there is no system to stop him? - that there is no system to cut the power or engage the brakes when two trains are on collision course?

[meemiathai]

This subway system seems to be of the most high tech we can find in the year of 2005!

[Nam Kao]

An accident where a falang was not blamed hmmmm

[kat]

Wait until after the Germans come to train them in saftey regs. After the first mishap, it wil be back to blaming farangs

[kwiz117]

Some expats always look down Thailand or any Asian country for that matter whenever some accident happen.

These are not happening only in Thailand. Go to the forums in your own backyards too and start commenting on the standard of those well developed systems with highly trained and intelligent staff...

With that in mind..read this from BBC..

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Rail crash carnage in Los Angeles

Emergency workers stand near the wreckage, 26 January 2005

About 300 firefighters are involved in the rescue effort

Ten people have been killed and up to 200 injured, some 40 of them critically, in a crash involving three trains in Los Angeles.

A Metrolink commuter train struck a car, derailed and collided with another commuter train. One of the trains then ploughed into a parked freight train.

The accident happened at the height of the morning rush hour in the Los Angeles suburb of Glendale.

Police have arrested a man and are expected to bring charges.

Hundreds of firefighters searched the scene for survivors.

"For me this is the worst train accident I have ever seen," said LA Fire Department chief Captain Rex Vilaubi.

How the crash happened

The two double-decker Metrolink commuter trains were travelling near Union Station in downtown LA - one heading to Burbank and another from Moorpark - when the crash happened at 0600 local time (1400 GMT).

The train tilted, everyone was screaming and I held onto a pole for dear life

Passenger Diane Brady

In pictures: LA crash

Police Chief Randy Adams announced the arrest of a "deranged" man who had been driving the car, and said he would be charged with homicide.

He identified the driver as Juan Manuel Alvarez, 26, of Compton.

"I think his intent... was to take his own life but changed his mind prior to the train actually striking this vehicle," he told reporters.

Following the collision, one of the train carriages caught fire and another ended up on its side.

One of the trains also hit a stationary Union Pacific freight train, said to be carrying gravel, pushing it off the tracks.

Investigation

"I heard a noise. It got louder and louder," passenger Diane Brady, 56, of Simi Valley, was quoted by the Associated Press news agency as saying.

"And next thing I knew the train tilted, everyone was screaming and I held onto a pole for dear life. I held on for what seemed like a week and a half, it seemed. It was a complete nightmare."

Television pictures showed some of the 300 firefighters, in light rain, searching for survivors in smoking and overturned carriages.

Helicopters and sniffer dogs were brought in to help to help find people trapped in the wreckage.

Around 200 people were treated on colour-coded plastic mats set up close to the crash site to act as temporary triage areas.

Officials said 100 people were taken to hospital and described it as a "very difficult morning"

[RDN]

Some expats always look down Thailand or any Asian country for that matter whenever some accident happen.

These are not happening only in Thailand. Go to the forums in your own backyards too and start commenting on the standard of those well developed systems with highly trained and intelligent staff...

With that in mind..read this from BBC.....

Rail crash carnage in Los Angeles.....

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I take your point - people are people and some will always look down, but the example you quote is not a good one. This crash appears to have been caused deliberately by a man trying to kill himself by getting a train to smash into his car. This is quite different from the Bangkok subway train "accident" where the safety systems - if there are any - did not prevent the collision of two trains on the same track.

I'm sure there must be other good examples of Western train crashes caused by a systems failure, but I don't think this is one.

[Oleg_Rus]

when they re-open services, would you dare to use it again ?

btw, it took 7 years to build 20km tunnel with most narrow stairs, low ceilings, smallest cars and poor ventilation, dangerously crowded at rush hours ?

from Bang Sue to H.Lumpong it takes about 40minutes plus wait for 5-10 minutes for train makes supersonic speed of 30-something km/hr. Truly Rapid Transportation

[sriracha john]

Hmmmm...... this all seems MIGHTY convienent for the government to push it's desire to control all the mass transit systems.... Hmmmmm, using the safety issue to push forth it's agenda. Holding the private company as hostage.

BANGKOK SUBWAY: Authority threatens to halt opening

Published on January 30, 2005

The Mass Rapid Transit Authority of Thailand (MRTA) yesterday demanded a substantial amendment to the subway concession contract signed with private operator Bangkok Metro Plc (BMCL) in return for the latter to reopen the service.

MRTA chief Prapat Jongsa-nguan said contract changes were necessary so as to increase public safety following the January 17 crash, in which hundreds of commuters were injured.

He said that the state agency, which awarded the contract to BMCL to operate the subway service, would not allow the private firm to resume its operation unless it agreed to the contract amendment.

The subway service, the first of its kind in Bangkok, was suspended on January 17 after an empty train accidentally ran into another train with 700 passengers onboard, resulting in hundreds of people being injured.

According to an informed source, the MRTA demanded to be empowered under the contract with BMCL to closely supervise the public-safety aspects of the subway operation following the crash, which has hurt commuter confidence.

Under the contract, signed in 2000, the state agency does not have direct authority to intervene in the private firm’s operations.

“BMCL was told that it’s supposed to accept the contract changes by the end of tomorrow or else the firm would not have approval to reopen the subway on February 1 as scheduled,” the source said.

Essentially, the contract amendment would require BMCL to overhaul its system-operating plan and appoint MRTA representatives on its operation and maintenance committees as well as its safety committee.

Second, both parties are required to hold joint meetings on public safety at least once a month.

Third, MRTA officials must be appointed as co-chief controllers on train services, and Siemens, which supplied the train system, must provide additional training to MRTA and BMCL personnel at the latter firm’s expense.

Fourth, BMCL must hire foreign experts on subway operations as consultants for an entire year one month after service is resumed.

Fifth, BMCL must reorganise the management of its subway service to ensure maximum safety for the public.

Sixth, all personnel operating the trains, the signalling system and train maintenance services will be required to pass technical tests to qualify for licences to be issued by the MRTA.

Meanwhile a banking source said commercial banks that provided loans to BMCL would have to endorse the contract changes before the private firm could agree to the changes as sought by MRTA.

Krung Thai, Bank of Ayudhya, Siam City Bank and Thai Military Bank are the firm’s major creditors.

[qwertyuiop]

when they re-open services, would you dare to use it again ?

btw, it took 7 years to build 20km tunnel with most narrow stairs, low ceilings, smallest cars and poor ventilation, dangerously crowded at rush hours ?

from Bang Sue to H.Lumpong it takes about 40minutes plus wait for 5-10 minutes for train makes supersonic speed of 30-something km/hr. Truly Rapid Transportation

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Apart from the names of the stations there is not much I recognise rom the system i have been using most days up until the unfortunate accident.

To answer your question I would have no qualms about using the service once again.

I do find it a little strange that it has been closed for so long since. I could not see that happening in the West. I wonder if the owners of the system are supporters of TRT?

[aaaaaa]

Some expats always look down Thailand or any Asian country for that matter whenever some accident happen.

These are not happening only in Thailand. Go to the forums in your own backyards too and start commenting on the standard of those well developed systems with highly trained and intelligent staff...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

good point, I agree ! and I'd add - not only when accident happen, but even without such - just in general. I think they wanna make THailand perfect for them to live in and as developed as their home countries by their endless critisism. as if their countires are perfect. but somehow they perefer to live here - not in their perfect countires ! funny, huh?

[Oleg_Rus]

To answer your question I would have no qualms about using the service once again.

I do find it a little strange that it has been closed for so long since. I could not see that happening in the West. I wonder if the owners of the system are supporters of TRT?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

that IS the right question, Mr "man with the name of the Dvorak keyboard layout" - WHY?!

I think the crash was much more serious, debries glass and power-shorts.

Everyday they loose money from this closure, so the reason Must be as big ...

Scary...

[qwertyuiop]

To answer your question I would have no qualms about using the service once again.

I do find it a little strange that it has been closed for so long since. I could not see that happening in the West. I wonder if the owners of the system are supporters of TRT?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

that IS the right question, Mr "man with the name of the Dvorak keyboard layout" - WHY?!

I think the crash was much more serious, debries glass and power-shorts.

Everyday they loose money from this closure, so the reason Must be as big ...

Scary...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I guess that you did not arrive here via Aeroflot