Train that derailed in Spain appears to have been going too fast, transportation secr

**SarasotaRepub** · 07-25-2013, 08:53 AM

Well hold the phone!!!!

77 dead after train derails, splits apart in Spain

By Al Goodman. Catherine E. Shoichet and Laura Smith-Spark, CNN
updated 7:44 AM EDT, Thu July 25, 2013

Madrid (CNN) -- An express train derailed as it hurtled around a curve in northwestern Spain on Wednesday, killing at least 77 people and injuring more than 100, officials said.

At least 73 people died at the scene, and four others died while hospitalized, said María Pardo Ríos, a spokeswoman for the Galicia regional supreme court. In
Spain, judges typically record deaths that take place outside of hospitals. Judicial teams are still at the crash site and expect to find more bodies, she told CNN on Thursday morning. There is no word yet on all the nationalities of those killed.

More than 20 victims remained in critical condition early Thursday, said Agustin Hernandez Fernandez of the Galicia infrastructure ministry.

Flames burst out of one train car as another car was snapped in half after the crash. Rescue crews and fellow passengers pulled bodies through broken windows and pried open doors as stunned survivors looked on.

But Europe does everything better...

**ironhorsedriver** · 07-25-2013, 11:24 AM

Yes, but when you take a curve to fast, at double the posted speed from what I've read, bad things happen. That's why we really push on qualifying engineers here. On some territory a engineer may ride for months until he is deemed qualified enough to run the territory on his own. Also, any run over 6 hours on passenger trains here, require two qualified engineers to be on the head end.
I reserve judgement until the story comes out, the man or woman could have had a heart attack prior to entering the curve. I find it unconscionable that someone could take the responsibility of that many lives without devoting his full attention to duties.
We may never know, from video, the engineers side of the cab hit ground first, I'd say he's not with us anymore to speak.

**noonwitch** · 07-25-2013, 01:54 PM

Isn't Santiago de Compostela a holy site for Catholics for some reason? The name sticks in my head.

I know nothing about high speed trains, except that some people want them here.

**ironhorsedriver** · 07-25-2013, 06:23 PM

High speed, AKA Europe, Japan, etc will never happen here.I don't care how many billion they spend on studies. There just isn't sufficient infrastructure or right of way for it.Using the same track as freight will not work, a heavy coal drag for example will wear out rail, burn it, and can't take the same degree of bank in curves required by high speed passenger trains.

**SarasotaRepub** · 07-25-2013, 07:09 PM

They have tried several times in FL to get these white elephants but so far
they have been kept out. Good.

**DumbAss Tanker** · 07-26-2013, 12:44 AM

Originally Posted by ironhorsedriver

Yes, but when you take a curve to fast, at double the posted speed from what I've read, bad things happen. That's why we really push on qualifying engineers here. On some territory a engineer may ride for months until he is deemed qualified enough to run the territory on his own. Also, any run over 6 hours on passenger trains here, require two qualified engineers to be on the head end.
I reserve judgement until the story comes out, the man or woman could have had a heart attack prior to entering the curve. I find it unconscionable that someone could take the responsibility of that many lives without devoting his full attention to duties.
We may never know, from video, the engineers side of the cab hit ground first, I'd say he's not with us anymore to speak.

Reports this morning were that he was one of the survivors and authorities were, understandably, rather anxious to interview him.

**ironhorsedriver** · 07-26-2013, 05:23 AM

He's a very lucky man, for his life. As an Engineer, I bet he will be sorry for that. From what I've read about what he posted on facebook, his flaunting of the rules, he is in for a very bad time. What I can't figure is how he got away with constant speeding. Random downloads of the computer here would have nailed him.

**Artois** · 07-26-2013, 03:40 PM

That's what baffles me the most. From our early evidence, he does have a long history of publicly boasting about speeding on trains with picture verification.

Yet, one would think that a modern passenger train would have some GPS tracking monitored by the rail company with oversight. If nothing else, the early arrivals should have thrown up multiple red flags unless he was truly gaming the system and there was no oversight in place.