Rail Replacement Bus crash at Lingfield - 24th Feb 2020

[4COR]

Happened last night (24th Feb) at 18:25GMT - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-surrey-51628346 - RRB due to the landslip further towards E Grinstead (https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/landslip-on-the-east-grinstead-line.197508/#post-4436321).

Looks like it managed to collide with the rear of another stationary bus in the car park, and then land up on top of two parked cars... Four injuries but hopefully all minor.

Later trains were turned early with delay reason "mishap"...

Four people were injured when a rail replacement bus was in collision with another bus in a station car park.

Govia Thameslink said it "appeared to go out of control" at Lingfield Station in Surrey at 18:25 GMT on Monday before hitting the back of the stationary bus.

The moving bus then landed on two unoccupied parked cars.

A total of 11 passengers were on the two rail replacement services, with the majority on the stationary bus, Govia Thameslink added.

British Transport Police (BTP) said paramedics treated three people at the scene and one person was taken to hospital "as a precaution". Their injuries were thought to be minor.

Neither bus driver was hurt.

BTP said both drivers "blew negative" on a breathalyser test and inquiries were ongoing.

The spokesperson for Govia Thameslink said: "At around 18:25 a rail replacement bus appeared to go out of control while turning in Lingfield station car park.

"It struck the rear of a stationary bus. The front of the moving bus then lifted and landed on two parked cars, which were not occupied.

"A third parked and unoccupied car was damaged indirectly."

No rail services were cancelled but six trains had to be turned one or two stops before Lingfield, at Hurst Green or Oxted.

Southern's customer services director Chris Fowler said they were "investigating the cause of this serious incident" and encouraged passengers to claim for any delays more than 15 minutes caused to their journeys.

 

[Deepgreen]

I saw the photo and wondered how on earth it managed to land on top of cars. Some significant speed must surely have been involved. I winced when I read that Southern's spokesman was encouraging passengers to claim delay repay - it seems these days that this is a standard way to round off rail problem news items!

 

[4COR]

If it's delay repay against the advertised bus timetable, who pays for that one...?

Pity the poor car owner who not only has to get the bus from Oxted or Hurst Green, but then finds their car squished under another one...

 

[Chrisgr31]

When I saw this last night I assumed the bus driver had had a medical episode but perhaps not.

 

[Skie]

I saw the photo and wondered how on earth it managed to land on top of cars. Some significant speed must surely have been involved.

It's surprising how little speed is needed to flip a car or lift a bus, theres a lot of torque going through those tyres and physics is more than happy to take over if you hit something at the right angle!

 

[yorkie]

Later trains were turned early with delay reason "mishap"...

Are you sure that was the reason given?

I'm aware of one particular open data website that changes the delay reasons (presumably for amusement purposes) but it's no more authoritative than any of us making up our own reason.

 

[Chrisgr31]

I am fairly sure I saw the Southern social media team use the word "mishap" but I have just reviewed the Twitter feed and cant find it now.

 

[Bletchleyite]

"Mishap" does feature in here:

https://wiki.openraildata.com/index.php/Delay_Attribution_Guide

...which I believe contains the official codes and text?

 

[daikilo]

I saw the photo and wondered how on earth it managed to land on top of cars. Some significant speed must surely have been involved. I winced when I read that Southern's spokesman was encouraging passengers to claim delay repay - it seems these days that this is a standard way to round off rail problem news items!

My guess is that the yellow "ladder" sticking out from under the front of the bus and above the black car was probably vertical before being hit by the bus and bent over then acting as a ramp.

 

[Flange Squeal]

According to Kent Online, Travelmasters’ MD has said "We have interviewed our driver and believe their foot got stuck and slipped from the break to the accelerator” and the driver has returned to work. There is also this video floating around showing a different Travelmasters vehicle but allegedly on the same route and day: https://twitter.com/zoetuffs/status/1232274269901598720?s=21

 

[Chrisgr31]

There are a number of passengers on the route who are very quick to accuse Southern on Twitter and if they show the same attitude to the bus drivers its not surprising the bus drivers might be irritable. I would guess looking at that video that the bus was overloaded with someone planning to stand beside the driver. However the driver wasnt happy with that and therefore couldnt move without them getting off and they probably refused.

 

[yorkie]

"Mishap" does feature in here:

https://wiki.openraildata.com/index.php/Delay_Attribution_Guide

...which I believe contains the official codes and text?

It wouldn't just say "mishap" though? I've only seen just that word on one site.

I was originally going by the link from post from the other day...

There's some other 'unusual' ones in Darwin: https://wiki.openraildata.com/index.php/Darwin:Cancellation_reason_codes_and_text

e.g. "This train has been cancelled because of passengers transferring between trains"

... but I see that's just cancellation reasons. In any case, the site in question makes so many things up, it's difficult to keep track of what is official and what isn't, hence I try to avoid using such sites, to avoid confusion.

There is also this video floating around showing a different Travelmasters vehicle but allegedly on the same route and day: https://twitter.com/zoetuffs/status/1232274269901598720?s=21

Unacceptable behaviour; if I behaved like that I'd resign because the outcome would be obvious.

... if they show the same attitude to the bus drivers its not surprising the bus drivers might be irritable....

A witness contradicts your apparently baseless claim:
https://twitter.com/Zanna808/status/1232287133274198017

I was also there and witnessed this. The passengers who had waited 45 mins in the cold, rain and darkness were more polite to him than he was to us

 

[4COR]

Sorry yes - I'd mistyped in the original post - it's not a delay reason (of course, since it was stopped short!), it's the cancellation reason:

https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/L01697/2020-02-24/detailed

"Cancelled... due to mishap (RY)"

And yes, it's surprising how little speed is required, I've seen cars overturned starting away from junctions with the right angle and torque!

 

[hwl]

My guess is that the yellow "ladder" sticking out from under the front of the bus and above the black car was probably vertical before being hit by the bus and bent over then acting as a ramp.

The "ladder" used to be the top of the height limiter to the car park!