GOLDEN, Colo. — The Regional Transportation District has resumed light rail service to the Jefferson County Government Center in Golden, about seven weeks after halting service because of a derailment.
Operations to the station had been disrupted since March 11, when a W Line train ran off the end of track at the station, injuring two passengers. The RTD said in a report last week that the operator of the train likely fell asleep [see “Operator was likely asleep …,” Trains News Wire, April 26, 2023].
The agency said in that report it was taking measures to prevent the accident from recurring, including an adjustment of its fit-for-duty checklist and an examination of operator starting times and shift durations.
Service resumed Sunday morning with the first scheduled train at 3:32 a.m. The RTD said in a press release that repairs included replacement of an electrical support pole, work on the pole’s foundation, and adjustment of the overhead wire system.
So much for modern technology. The old trolley cars were equipped with a simple dead man’s switch that had to be engaged for the trolley to operate. There should still have been some type of dead man’s switch either on the operators control panel or like old times a simple pedal that had to have enough pressure to keep it engaged. A sleeping operator would usually not have any leg pressure if they fell asleep and the rail vehicle would have stoped. Also what about modern signal controls. If an operator did not respond to a restricted signal like most systems use near the final station and did not respond the vehicle should get an automatic stop order.
Yes, a “dead-man’s pedal” or some sort of automatic train-stop signaling to prevent this type of accident?
Did they learn anything in the 1 1/2 months the line was shut down, other than if they could do without it that long, it probably wasn’t necessary to build it in the first place?
As to preventing the accident, there have been many “dead man” devices on the market, going back over 100 years.