Incident at Sheffield - 24/06/2026

[bigmanaiq]

I’m seeing things online (https://www.reddit.com/r/uktrains/c...ern_838_sheffield_to_lincoln_departed_in_the/) of an incident at Sheffield in which a train seems to have departed the wrong way out of a bay platform and has either almost gone into or actually gone into the buffers, hard to tell from the photograph.

It appears to be this service:

Realtime Trains | Just a moment

Realtime Trains is an independent source of live realtime running information for the Great British railway network.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

And this is the image I was sent (attached below), shows a Northern class 195 dangerously close/in contact with the buffers at platform 3 at Sheffield

This week seems to have been one to forget for the railways. Wonder if any further investigations will take place.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Platform 3 at Sheffield (if that was it) now back in use already?

 

[edwin_m]

Has it departed in the wrong direction or did it fail to stop in the correct place when arriving?

 

[AndrewE]

People making mistakes in the heat?

 

[ricoblade]

Blimey - Seems to have happened when I was there. I was on the slightly late 08:48 arrival from Doncaster onto 5B then across to 6 for the 08:56 to Bristol. I saw the service come in before the XC I was waiting for but didn't hear or notice anything.

 

[rmHawk765]

People making mistakes in the heat?

Very likely so, I suspect the Wellingborough can't remember where it was wrongly set points only a day or two ago were similar. But this is all speculation of course, best to wait for the RAIB reports or other information.

 

[bigmanaiq]

Very likely so, I suspect the Wellingborough can't remember where it was wrongly set points only a day or two ago were similar. But this is all speculation of course, best to wait for the RAIB reports or other information.

Chesterfield

 

[Ferret]

195s made by CAF aren’t they? Usual incident involving the chosen Direction Selector being a mere basis for negotiation, depending on air levels? If you know, you know.

 

[saltywalrus]

195s made by CAF aren’t they? Usual incident involving the chosen Direction Selector being a mere basis for negotiation, depending on air levels? IYKYK…

What do you mean?

 

[GraphitProjekt]

there was some implication that 195s were designed with their direction controllers on backwards, is that true?

 

[CalderRail]

Very likely so, I suspect the Wellingborough can't remember where it was wrongly set points only a day or two ago were similar. But this is all speculation of course, best to wait for the RAIB reports or other information.

Clay Cross North Junction, between Chesterfield and Alfreton

 

[skyhigh]

there was some implication that 195s were designed with their direction controllers on backwards, is that true?

No, it's not.

 

[dk1]

Seen this a few times with older legacy units over the years but I thought most modern units sound an alarm like our 745 & 755 units do if selecting reverse by mistake. Obviously not.

 

[Ferret]

there was some implication that 195s were designed with their direction controllers on backwards, is that true?

Not sure about that.

But, there is a known problem on CAF diesel units where choosing forwards when the driver has changed ends, does not always yield the expected results, and instead of moving in the intended direction, one moves backwards! I think it’s linked to how much air is in the main res as to whether the switch flips or not.

 

[STINT47]

There seems to be a lot of accidents and incidents on the railway at the moment. I do wonder if they're Is something causing them to be less safe or is it just coincidence

 

[Ferret]

There seems to be a lot of accidents and incidents on the railway at the moment. I do wonder if they're Is something causing them to be less safe or is it just coincidence

Coincidence.

 

[dk1]

There seems to be a lot of accidents and incidents on the railway at the moment. I do wonder if they're Is something causing them to be less safe or is it just coincidence

Just coincidence. Nothing more.

 

[skyhigh]

But, there is a known problem on CAF diesel units where choosing forwards when the driver has changed ends, does not always yield the expected results, and instead of moving in the intended direction, one moves backwards!

It's not a known problem on 195s. If the gearbox isn't in the required direction, you don't get power from that engine - it will not power in the opposite direction.

With which CAF diesel fleet is it a known issue?

 

[bramling]

Just coincidence. Nothing more.

That is a bit of a hazardous statement to make. Coincidence perhaps, but one could also question whether an element of complacency has crept into safety management, especially compared to perhaps 10-15 years ago. There do seem to be a lot of incidents fairly recently where one reads the report and thinks “omg can’t believe that happened”.

If the period 2005-2020 (approximately) seemed to be a golden period for rail safety then one does pick up a vague feeling that what we are in at the moment is starting to feel more like the 1990s. There’s been a run of accidents which have thankfully ended up being comparatively minor (albeit still very serious for those directly involved), and also a run of near misses - any one of these could have been major disaster in just slightly different circumstances. Last week’s Bedford incident was bad enough, but it could so easily have involved a third train on the down fast line, the consequences of which don’t bear thinking about.

There comes a point where coincidence becomes a systemic pattern.

 

[dk1]

That is a bit of a hazardous statement to make. Coincidence perhaps, but one could also question whether an element of complacency has crept into safety management, especially compared to perhaps 10-15 years ago. There does seem to be a lot happening that when one reads the report one thinks “omg can’t believe that happened”.

If the period 2005-2020 (approximately) seemed to be a golden period for rail safety then one does pick up a vague feeling that what we are in at the moment is starting to feel more like the 1990s. There’s been a run of accidents which have thankfully ended up being comparatively minor (albeit still very serious for those directly involved), and also a run of near misses - any one of these could have been major disaster in just slightly different circumstances. Last week’s Bedford incident was bad enough, but it could so easily have involved a third train on the down fast line, the consequences of which don’t bear thinking about.

I think you are reading far too much into it. It’s just coincidence thats all. To assume complacency within the industry is nonsense. If anything my experience is totally the opposite.

 

[norbitonflyer]

Just coincidence. Nothing more.

Coincidence plus reporting bias. A minor buffer stop collision or over-run, like the two discuissed here, would probably pass without much comment in a normal week, but after a major accident the railways are under greater scrutiny.

LTC Rolt remarked on this tendency in "Red for Danger"

 

[dk1]

Coincidence plus reporting bias. A minor buffer stop collision or over-run, like the two discuissed here, would probably pass without much comment in a normal week, but after a major accident the railways are under greater scrutiny.

LTC Rolt remarked on this tendency in "Red for Danger"

Yes I quite agree. You worded that extremely well.

 

[bramling]

I think you are reading far too much into it. It’s just coincidence thats all. To assume complacency within the industry is nonsense. If anything my experience is totally the opposite.

I didn’t say I was assuming complacency, just that it’s a legitimate question to be asking.

If we look at Bedford, both trains involved seem to have been affected by issues, causing one train to have an out-of-course stop, the other to be shortformed. There’s plenty of posts/threads on here suggesting that both the Aurora fleet and the Corby EMU service have been beset by fleet-related problems, so the fact that both trains involved had issues doesn’t appear to be coincidence, but indicative of ongoing systemic issues. By any reading of the situation this doesn’t point to an industry that is on its front foot.

Not saying there is some systemic issue, but if you’re saying that everything is a coincidence then that’s also essentially saying that everything bad that has happened recently is down to bad luck. Generally accidents don’t happen because of luck, they happen because someone has found a hole in the various layers of safety management. If the safety management is leaving bigger holes for people to more easily find then that’s not coincidence.

 

[WillC]

This is classic bias. It’s hot. There was Bedford. A couple of minor things. There *must* be a pattern etc… Spolier, there most probably isn’t. Humans can see a Loch Ness Monster in a floating log.

 

[MP33]

My Father claimed that after the Lewisham accident. Any hint of poor visibility and everything was slowed to a crawl.

 

[amarshe]

And that is why IMHO this forum is quite nice - folk can float a theory and (for the most part) get non-vitriolous feedback. Reason being why I for the most part avoid social media...

Back to the thread it's normal for humans to interpret connection when there is none - e.g. its just coincidence. Of course that's no reason to examine and see if there is indeed a pattern!

 

[800001]

I didn’t say I was assuming complacency, just that it’s a legitimate question to be asking.

If we look at Bedford, both trains involved seem to have been affected by issues, causing one train to have an out-of-course stop, the other to be shortformed. There’s plenty of posts/threads on here suggesting that both the Aurora fleet and the Corby EMU service have been beset by fleet-related problems, so the fact that both trains involved had issues doesn’t appear to be coincidence, but indicative of ongoing systemic issues. By any reading of the situation this doesn’t point to an industry that is on its front foot.

Not saying there is some systemic issue, but if you’re saying that everything is a coincidence then that’s also essentially saying that everything bad that has happened recently is down to bad luck. Generally accidents don’t happen because of luck, they happen because someone has found a hole in the various layers of safety management. If the safety management is leaving bigger holes for people to more easily find then that’s not coincidence.

Not quite sure a short form is indicative of issues of collisions. The unit that detached from it went ecs.
A short played no part in the Bedford incident.

 

[HLE]

195s made by CAF aren’t they? Usual incident involving the chosen Direction Selector being a mere basis for negotiation, depending on air levels? IYKYK…

That's what my money's on here. Still locked in the opposite direction.

 

[DerekC]

Coincidence or not, happily we have RAIB whose job it is (as well as investigating) to spot common causes and linkages between incidents and publish guidance accordingly. They have just issued one on recent overspeed incidents, for example. And we have a comprehensive annual safety report published by RSSB that looks at higher level trends, which does result in action when things are going the wrong way (and they do, sometimes).

If anyone unfamiliar with how the industry works is worried about complacency they should read some of these documents before coming to a conclusion.

We should continue to do the right thing for all the recent incidents which is investigate, ascertain causes and work out what do do to improve. It works - look at long term safety trends.

 

[GPR]

That's what my money's on here. Still locked in the opposite direction.

Have you ever had that happen?
I’ve driven 195s a lot (not on the mainline but on depot) and I’ve never gone backwards when putting the direction selector in forward.