Rail Disaster Research Articles

Carbonaceous Fractions Contents and Carbon Stable Isotope Compositions of Aerosols Collected in the Atmosphere of Montreal (Canada): Seasonality, Sources, and Implications

With the objective of better understanding the sources and dynamics of carbonaceous fractions of the aerosols present in the atmosphere of Montreal, we implemented here an online wet oxidation/isotope ratio mass spectrometry (IRMS) method to simultaneously measure both water-soluble organic carbon (WSOC) content and the corresponding δ13C of aerosol samples collected at four monitoring stations over a 1-year period representing distinct types of environmental conditions (i.e., background, road traffic, industrial, and downtown). We coupled these data with the corresponding concentrations of other carbon fractions: total carbon (TC), elemental carbon plus organic carbon (EC + OC), and carbonates. Results show that TC (6.64 ± 2.88 μg m–3), EC + OC (4.98 ± 2.23 μg m–3), and carbonates (1.71 ± 1.09 μg m–3) were characterized by lower concentrations in winter and higher ones between spring and early autumn, with all fractions expectedly showing significantly lower concentrations for aerosols collected at the background station. We observed a seasonal dependence of the δ13CEC+OC (−25.31 ± 0.94‰) with the EC + OC/total suspended particles (TSP) ratio: (i) an increase of the ratio during late spring, summer and early autumn associated to road traffic emissions characterized by a δ13C of ∼−25‰ and (ii) lower ratios during the winter months indicating the influence of two distinct emission sources, a first one with a δ13C ∼−27‰, suggesting the local influence of combined biomass burning from residential heating and of fossil fuel combustion, and a second one with a δ13C ∼−21‰, likely related to more regional emissions. WSOC (1.14 ± 0.67 μg m–3) presented a similar seasonal pattern for all monitoring stations, with low concentrations in winter, early spring and late autumn that rapidly increased until summer. Our results indicate that this seasonality is controlled by higher anthropogenic contributions from southern Canada and northeastern United States regions and probably from biogenic emissions during the warm months. Moreover, δ13CWSOC (−25.08 ± 1.47‰) showed a 13C-depletion in summer, indicating higher fossil fuel and biogenic contributions, whereas the higher isotope compositions observed in winter may result from the photochemical aging of regional aerosols. Ultimately, we identified the influence of local industrial emissions late in 2013 as well as the impact of aerosol emissions associated to the Lac-Mégantic rail disaster that occurred on July 6, ∼200 km east of Montreal.

A Salutogenic Approach to Disaster Recovery: The Case of the Lac-Mégantic Rail Disaster.

In July 2013, a train carrying crude oil derailed in Lac-Mégantic (Canada). This disaster provoked a major fire, 47 deaths, the destruction of 44 buildings, a massive evacuation, and an unparalleled oil spill. Since 2013, Public Health has undertaken several actions to address this challenging situation, using both quantitative and qualitative methods. Community-based surveys were conducted in Lac-Mégantic in 2014, 2015 and 2018. The first two surveys showed persistent and widespread health needs. Inspired by a salutogenic approach, Public Health has shifted its focus from health protection to health promotion. In 2016, a Day of Reflection was organized during which a map of community assets and an action plan for the community recovery were co-constructed with local stakeholders. The creation of an Outreach Team is an important outcome of this collective reflection. This team aims to enhance resilience and adaptive capacity. Several promising initiatives arose from the action plan—all of which greatly contributed to mobilize the community. Interestingly, the 2018 survey suggests that the situation is now evolving positively. This case study stresses the importance of recognizing community members as assets, rather than victims, and seeking a better balance between health protection and health promotion approaches.

Cellular automaton modeling of pedestrian movement behavior on an escalator**Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 71473207 and 71871189), the Research Grant Council of the Hong Kong Administrative Region, China (Grant No. CityU118909), and the Open Fund of Beijing Engineering and Technology Research Center of Rail Transit Line Safety and Disaster Prevention (Grant No. RRC201701).

As a convenient passenger transit facility between floors with different heights, escalators have been extensively used in shopping malls, metro stations, airport terminals, etc. Compared with other vertical transit facilities including stairs and elevators, escalators usually have large transit capacity. It is expected to reduce pedestrian traveling time and thus improve the quality of pedestrian’s experiences especially in jamming conditions. However, it is noticed that pedestrians may present different movement patterns, e.g., queuing on each step of the escalator, walking on the left-side and meanwhile standing on the right-side of the escalator. These different patterns affect the actual escalator traffic volume and finally the passenger spatiotemporal distribution in different built environments. Thus, in the present study, a microscopic cellular automaton (CA) simulation model considering pedestrian movement behavior on escalators is built. Simulations are performed considering different pedestrian movement speeds, queuing modes, and segregation on escalators with different escalator speeds. The actual escalator capacities under different pedestrian movement patterns are investigated. It is found that walking on escalators will not always benefit escalator transit volume improvement, especially in jamming conditions.

Importance of Exposure and Health Disaster Research

Responses to various disasters including the World Trade Center attack, Great Eastern JapanEarthquake, Gulf Oil Spill, Ebola and Zika outbreaks, Lac-Mégantic rail disaster, and recenthurricanes and wildfires have revealed the dire need for improved ability to perform rapid datacollection and research for such events. In 2013, leaders from NIH, CDC, and HHS, noted that“the knowledge that is generated through well-designed, effectively executed research inanticipation of, in the midst of, and after an emergency is critical to our future capacity to betterachieve the overarching goals of preparedness and response: preventing injury, illness,disability, and death and supporting recovery.” While much has been done to improve the life-saving response for public health emergencies, these events have also revealed notable gaps inour ability to develop, coordinate, and implement needed scientific research in response to adisaster. It took 11 months to begin a longitudinal health study of exposed workers after theGulf Oil spill. Such delays adversely affect the ability to identify participants or gather vitalinformation to determine disaster-related risk factors such as resiliency, health outcomesrelated to exposures or other stressors, or efficacy of various response activities. Critical dataare lost if not collected in a timely, systematic, and scientifically rigorous manner throughcoordinated interdisciplinary efforts with multiple stakeholders, including impactedcommunities. In response, the NIH Disaster Research Response Program was created tofacilitate time critical data collection and research into national response and recovery efforts.Together with Canada and Japan, progress is being made to overcome some of the challengesand advance disaster research capabilities including availability of research protocols, IRBreview processes, coordination among government agencies, and engagement of academic,public health, and community stakeholders.

Possible Areas of Application of Drones in Waste Management during Rail Accidents and Disasters

In this article the most modern versions of unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) will be presented from the aspect of safer identification of dangerous effluent materials during rail accidents and catastrophes. These technologies are crucial to minimize the pollution of dangerous waste generated during accidents or catastrophes. Doing this, exploration of further opportunities of waste management - satisfying the conditions of the highest level of environmental safety - is necessary, as well as to find new methods to handle waste in time securely and professionally. Exploration of unprecedented solutions during rail- and road accidents or catastrophes is also reasonable. Relevancy of application of drones is particular as long as the approachability of the affected area is difficult or impossible. During the neutralization of explosive, hazardous or toxic materials the risk of life could be eliminated using drones equipped with the most modern technologies.

Expectations for Full-scale Storm Simulator in Relation to Wind-related Rail Disasters

Expectations for Full-scale Storm Simulator in Relation to Wind-related Rail Disasters

Pointing fingers across the tracks: an examination of strategic messages in the Lac-Mégantic rail disaster

The oil industry transports crude oil via rail due to increasing demand. Though convenient, this can be dangerous, as many railways travel through populated regions, placing individuals in close range at risk of danger and death during a train derailment. In 2013, the deadliest rail disaster to happen in Canada in 140 years occurred when a Montreal, Maine & Atlantic (MMA) train carrying 7.7 ml of petroleum crude oil broke loose in Nantes, Quebec, and traveled towards Lac-Mégantic, Quebec. The train derailed and exploded in the city’s center, instantly killed 47 people, destroyed downtown, and forced the evacuation of over 2000 residents. The disaster prompted safety and criminal investigations, and litigation for personal, economic, and ecological reparations. This study uses dialectical tensions of strategic communication decision-making to examine the crisis and post-crisis stages of the event to determine how the tensions of organizational responsibility and emotional connection intersected during the crisis. Further, the impact of the crisis at an industry level and the resulting industry-wide lessons learned are revealed. Results were twofold: The tensions intersected with one another; and in socially stigmatized industries, organizational learning can occur on an industry-wide level. Tensions intersected when insensitive communication and messages disowning responsibility for the event initially occurred, and also later, when sensitive communication and taking ownership of the event were communicated. Learning occurred via observation, and actions were implemented in similar organizations in direct response of the event. In addition, regulations were created in direct response and implemented in both Canada and the United States. The study offers implications, discusses the complexity of transnational crises, and calls for future study of interacting tensions of strategic communication decision-making in order to understand how inherent tensions in a crisis situation prompt certain organizational responses to crises.

Investigation on features and tendencies of axle-box heating

Summary. Breakdown of rolling stock axle-boxes if not detected in due time may cause a rail accident or disaster. At present, a lot of advanced technologies, modern equipment and devices, which “recognizes” faulty axle-boxes when the train is in motion, have been implemented. However, the timely identification of breakdown of rolling stock axle-boxes still is an acute problem, the initial stage of damage emergence being especially problematic. Presently, rolling stock axle-box breakdown is determined according to the higher than permissible temperature of the axle-box body. The article provides statistical data of dangerously heated axle-boxes, determined train delay durations, the number of delayed trains by danger level, and dependence of damage on the season. After systematization of data on axle-box damage and heating temperatures of broken axle-boxes, heating tendencies of axle-boxes of freight wagons are described. Finally, basic conclusions are given.

Signs of respect: embodying the train driver–signal relationship to avoid rail disasters

Train driving is a complex and dangerous activity. If a signal is passed at danger (SPAD), a driver experiences one of the most safety critical failure modes of rail. Train drivers are not only significantly emotionally and professionally impacted by SPADs that they have experienced; they are also affected by their potential occurrence. Using a mobilities approach, we identify SPAD risk reduction strategies that train drivers generate during dynamic interactive encounters with signals, between human/machine, time/space, structured movement/unstructured movement. Drivers form an intimate relationship whereby the signal is viewed with both reverence and contempt. Drivers anthropomorphise the signal, and predict SPAD potentiality aimed at outwitting the signal. We suggest that this human–signal interface offers new perspectives of SPADs, revealing that a signal means more than stop–caution–go.

MicroReviews by the Book Review Editor: Train Wreck: The Forensics of Rail Disasters: George Bibel

MicroReviews by the Book Review Editor: <i>Train Wreck: The Forensics of Rail Disasters</i>: George Bibel

Train wreck: the forensics of rail disasters

This book describes how trains are massive—with some weighing 15,000 tons or more. When these metal monsters collide or go off the rails, their destructive power becomes clear. This book presents riveting tales of trains gone wrong, the detective work of finding out why, and the safety improvements that were born of tragedy. The book details 17 crashes in which more than 200 people were killed. Readers follow investigators as they sift through the rubble and work with computerized event recorders to figure out what happened. Using a mix of eyewitness accounts and scientific explanations, the author draws people into a world of forensics and human drama. The book is a fascinating exploration of runaway trains, bearing failures, metal fatigue, crash testing, collision dynamics, and bad rails.

The ghost of injuries present in Dickens's The Signalman

Written in the aftermath of the Staplehurst rail disaster, Dickens's ghost story ‘The Signalman’ is often read for its uncanny insights into what would later come to be known as trauma theory. This paper revisits that text – in its focus on retrospection, belatedness, repetition and the disarticulation of event from consciousness – to consider the role of other, arguably less intense, but still traumatising experiences. For example, Dickens's fraught editorial relationship with Elizabeth Gaskell; specifically his decision to remove a reference to himself from Cranford that suggested his readers might suffer injury from writing that found its origins in an industrial process of steam and gear train. The ‘Signalman’ anachronistically unites two distinct events – Staplehurst and Gaskell's wounding characterisation – within a frame that is recursively haunted by material common to both: rail catastrophe, mortal threats to the public and private self, and fraught miscommunication.

Exploring the psychological factors involved in the Ladbroke Grove rail accident

Ten years after the event and the question as to exactly why a driver passed a signal at danger to cause the Ladbroke Grove rail disaster is still an open one. This paper uses the literature on human error and cognition, combined with critical path analysis, to provide further insight. Five aspects of train operation are drawn out of the known facts surrounding the incident: custom and practice in the use of the Driver's Reminder Appliance, operation and use of the Automatic Warning System, the sequence of signalling information, methods of supplying route information, and speed restrictions. Associated with each are several important human factors issues which, combined, give rise to five potential explanations. Critical path analysis is used to map these explanations onto the known facts of the situation. It is suggested that the proximal cause of the Ladbroke Grove rail crash was a combination of an association–activation error and a mode error (leading the driver to mistakenly assume he had activated the Reminder Appliance) together with a loss-of-activation error (the driver failing to remember that a previous signal was showing caution) and a data-driven-activation error (by associating an in-cab warning to the wrong external source). The findings support the original inquiry recommendations, but also go further into predictive methods of detecting problems at the human/transport system interface.

Emergency nurses and disaster response: An exploration of South Australian emergency nurses’ knowledge and perceptions of their roles in disaster response

Summary The word ‘disaster' for many people conjures up images of well publicized events such as 9/11 (2001), the London bombings (2005), Hurricane Katrina (2005) and more recently the Haiti earthquake (2010). For Australians, the impact of disasters closer to our shores has been felt through such incidents as the Bali bombings (2002 and 2005) and the Boxing Day Tsunami (2004). Significant events that have occurred on Australian soil include Cyclone Tracey (1974), the Granville Rail disaster (1977) and Ash Wednesday bushfires (1983). Natural disasters such as flooding, cyclones and bushfires continue to impact Australian communities. However, to date Australia has avoided a large scale disaster event that has overwhelmed the health care system. A mixed method approach underpins this study. Both quantitative and qualitative data was collected through a self report questionnaire. Quantitative data has provided statistic evidence to support the findings, while the qualitative data has allowed for a richer understanding of nurses' perceptions. The population for this study is South Australian emergency nurses working in public hospital emergency departments in metropolitan Adelaide. Three key themes emerged from the data. Firstly, South Australian emergency nurses have had minimal previous disaster experience (either through a real event or simulated exercises). Second, although a large number of nurses have completed what they perceive to be disaster education and training, questions were raised regarding the appropriateness, relevance and availability of such education. Third, South Australian emergency nurses have a low level of disaster knowledge. The findings from this study are relevant not only for emergency nurses, but for all health professionals involved in disaster response. In particular for those who have had minimal disaster response experience and limited exposure to disaster education and training opportunities. This study suggests a disaster training program for South Australian emergency nurses would be beneficial. The need for future research into appropriate disaster education and training for health professionals is highlighted by the study.

XsxsHEMS Training and the 7th July 2005: A Personal Perspective

Since the 7th July, the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 has now come into force. Emergency services are required to have plans in place to response to a range of major incidents. The role of pre-hospital physicians has been recognised for sometime and was highlighted during the inquiry by Hidden QC into the 1988 Clapham rail disaster. The medical response from both HEMS and London BASICS was extraordinary on the day due to the significant number of clinicians attending the clinical governance day. The three post 7/7 reports have made several recommendations, the main recommendations focusing on communications and the management of uninjured survivors and relatives. None of the reports were completely independent, apolitical or peer reviewed, but they do provide useful information for emergency planners and responders. The problem with the absence of peer review is that situations can be interpreted as either half empty or half full. The scrutiny committee of the London Assembly suggested that the time taken to clear the scenes (approximately 3 hours) was too long. Previous experience of 'one-under' incidents has shown that a single casualty trapped under a train can take up to 90 minutes to be safety extricated. The management of over 700 casualties with a 50% conveyance rate to hospital at four incident sites within the documented timeframe was an achievement, but it is important not to be complacent. After a major incident many responders are left with a feeling of frustration and sometimes anger. The frustration is often due to the limitations a major incident places on clinical practice. Senior clinicians may be required to assume non-clinical roles and this is outside their comfort zone. Psychological effects on first responders are not easily quantifiable but support mechanisms should be in place and offered. Some people remember certain details while others may have difficulty recollecting events. I found my role frustrating, as did many, but also rewarding. It was something I would not want to go though again and I still don't remember the faces of many of the responders or casualties while I know that others do. One of the most important factors during the response and the recovery phase was team spirit. On scene all responders from all services were cooperating and supportive of each other. Afterwards, there was an opportunity to unwind with colleagues and this was extremely beneficial. This form of debrief has been seen after operational deployments and critical incidents. On reflecting on the day's events it was a privilege to work with the teams responding to the event of that day. The training, planning and response proved that the team works.

Express Railway Disaster in Amagasaki: A Review of Urban Disaster Response Capacity in Japan

On the morning of 25 April 2005, a Japan Railway express train derailed in an urban area of Amagasaki, Japan. The crash was Japan's worst rail disaster in 40 years. This study chronicles the rescue efforts and highlights the capacity of Japan's urban disaster response. Public reports were gathered from the media, Internet, government, fire department, and railway company. Four key informants, who were close to the disaster response, were interviewed to corroborate public data and highlight challenges facing the response. The crash left 107 passengers dead and 549 injured. First responders, most of whom were volunteers, were helpful in the rescue effort, and no lives were lost due to transport delays or faulty triage. Responders criticized an early decision to withdraw rescue efforts, a delay in heliport set-up, the inefficiency of the information and instruction center, and emphasized the need for training in confined space medicine. Communication and chain-of-command problems created confusion at the scene. The urban disaster response to the train crash in Amagasaki was rapid and effective. The Kobe Earthquake and other incidents sparked changes that improved disaster preparedness in Amagasaki. However, communication and cooperation among responders were hampered, as in previous disasters, by the lack of a structured command system. Application of an incident command system may improve disaster coordination in Japan.

Investigation into issues of passenger egress in Ladbroke Grove rail disaster

This paper provides an overview of findings from the Health and Safety Laboratory investigation into human factors issues surrounding passenger escape and evacuation in the Ladbroke Grove train crash (1999). Drawing upon a range of contextual information the investigation focused upon identifying barriers and delays to evacuation following the incident. Findings highlight a number of important design shortcomings, as well as scope for the enhancement of both passive and active communication systems. The need to take account of passengers’ mental models, intuitions and situation awareness when designing communication systems and emergency egress equipment for the railway carriage environment is highlighted.

Proximate Causation in Insurance Law

The recent decision in Midland Mainline v Eagle Star Insurance Co Ltd, has returned the Court of Appeal to some thorny questions concerning causation in insurance contracts. The case resulted from the Hat¢eld rail disaster in 2000 in which four people diedwhen a trainwas derailed by a broken track. Following the crash, Railtrack plc, the operator of the track, decided to impose emergency speed restrictions (ESRs) across those parts of the rail networkwhere therewas a possibilityof a similar incident. This led to disruptions in trains and as a consequence rail companies suiered losses.These companies sought to recover the losses from policies covering business interruption.The policy before the court excluded liability for loss caused by ‘inherent vice, latent defect, gradual deterioration, wear and tear, frost, change in water table level, its own faultyor defective design ormaterials’.The insurers denied liability for the companies’ losses on the ground that the cause of the loss was wear and tear of the track and that, since this was excluded, they were not liable.

Lessons About Sleepiness and Driving from the Selby Rail Disaster Case: R v Gary Neil Hart

In April 2003, near the town of Selby in North Yorkshire, England, a motor vehicle went off the road to cause a train collision, killing 10 and injuring more than 70 people. The driver of the vehicle, Gary Neil Hart, had allegedly fallen asleep while driving, and was charged and subsequently convicted of causing death by dangerous driving. Evidence from an expert witness was led by the prosecution to establish that Hart had in fact fallen asleep, and that prior to falling asleep, he knew (or ought to have known) that he was at risk of falling asleep but nevertheless continued to drive. The issue of whether and to what extent individuals are aware that they are about to fall asleep has significant implications for criminal prosecutions. Generally, the definition of a criminal offense includes a mental element such as intent or knowledge. Therefore, it is imperative that issues such as whether in every individual there is forewarning of sleep and the degree to which individuals are able to self-assess their ability to continue driving under conditions of extreme sleepiness must be resolved. Sleepiness is now regarded as the largest identifiable and preventable cause of accidents in all modes of transportation. Litigation for such accidents is likely to increase, and therefore it is of great importance that further research be undertaken to examine the process of falling asleep, especially the subjective experiences immediately preceding sleep.

Management of urgent emergency engineering projects

Emergency engineering work has become increasingly important to avoid or repair unexpected faults or damage to industrial and public service systems. This paper draws on case studies of the emergency engineering work for recent flood threats and rail disasters in the UK to define general lessons for the management of future urgent emergency work in any industry or service.