ORINDA, Calif. — An error that sent the train onto the wrong track at an interlocking preceded Monday’s derailment of a Bay Area Rapid Transit train, according to a BART narrative of events that led to the derailment of two cars and a fire.
Nine people were injured in the incident about 9 a.m. on New Year’s Day, which disrupted Yellow Line operations in the East Bay for the remainder of the day [see “Nine injured as BART train derails,” Trains News Wire, Jan. 1, 2023].
The incident was preceded by a loss of communications between the computer that manages BART track systems and the area near the Orinda station, including an interlocking between the Orinda and Lafayette stations. With that system down, BART’s Operations Control Center instructed the operator of the approaching eight-car, Antioch-bound train that the interlocking would need to be manually aligned for straight-through operation. After leaving the train to perform the alignment, the operator returned and began to move the train in manual mode through the interlocking — but reported to the control center that instead of going straight, the train began crossing over to the opposite track.
The control center, after halting all trains in the area, told the operator to move to the control cab at the opposite end of the train and reverse the direction of travel to clear the interlocking and allow for a correct alignment for straight-through movement. It was during this move that the train derailed, causing electrical arcing that led to the fire. The operator reported the fire at 9:05 a.m. and began walking through the train to evacuate passengers; the Orinda police and fire departments responded and helped evacuate the 100 to 150 people on board and extinguish the fire. By 9:23, the control center was told all those on board had been safely evacuated.
BART’s report says the track where the incident occurred, including the interlocking, was recently replaced and is in good order. The train control system is undergoing a modernization as part of the implementation of Communications Based Train Control, a project described here.
BART continues its investigation into the incident and has until 60 days after the incident to submit a report to the California Public Utilities Commission.
Power switches must be placed in manual mode and operated manually to each position to ensure that power is disengaged. If not done properly the switch may move, resulting in an incident such as this occurrence. It is possible that a switch was run through during the initial forward move, resulting in the derailment when reversing direction.
“Fruitions”??? WTH are those? Global Climate Warming or Donald Trump more likely; Joe Biden was in the Virgin Islands but maybe playing with his train set. But more to the point–seems to be an awful lot of “switching incidents” right now at both ends of the country. A regular feature of North Station Boston used to be trains going out on the wrong tracks and having to back through switches and then getting sent right; I had that happen at least twice and I didn’t ride much! On Boston’s South Side one of the great gems was having a B&P main line local switched onto the Stoughton branch at Canton Jct.; that happens.
More to the point, NYC sounds like there may have been brake failure plus not watching signals or forgetting their aspect; plus what are “vandals” doing on an out-of-service train in the first place—I doubt they were “migrants” seeking shelter. BART on the other hand may show the dangers in having computers run everything; artificial intelligence is no substitute for the real thing. Maybe HAL couldn’t avoid throwing the switch again. A switch’s being thrown while a train is moving through it might be the culprit there–tho’ maybe the switch questioned its identity and self-identified in the other direction.
Time will tell. Keep us informed, TRAINS!
The train wasn’t out of service when the person pulled the emergency brake over and over. It damaged the brake system. The train was driven from the sixth car while two people stood on the front as flagged/rear protection.
Maybe some fruitions caused a switch motor to operate under the train?