Open door on ageing train hits passenger service
A start led train driver dived for cover after her Scot rail carriage carrying passengers was hit by the open door of a passing intercity, The Scots man has learned.
No-one was injured in the incident near Waverley station in Edinburgh.
S cotr ail was unable to explain why it had hap - pened.
AS co trail train carrying passengers has been hit by the door of another train that was swinging open as they passed, The Scotsman has learned.
The incident near Waverley station in Edinburgh damaged the train from Dunblane, but no-one was injured – though the startled driver leapt from her seat as it happened.
The collision was caused by a door on one of Scotrail’s 40- year-old inter city trains, which was being driven empty to a depot at Haymarket.
S cot Rail was unable to explain why it had happened. However, it is seen as more likely to have been a mechanical fault than human error.
The train involved is thought to have operated a passenger service from Aberdeen which had arrived at Waverley 15 minutes earlier.
Scotrail said the driver had checked the door son the platform side were all closed before leaving, but the open door is believed to have been on the other side of the train.
Scotrail said a panel in the driver’s cab had indicated all the doors were closed.
The collision happened around 10 pm on Saturday between Hay market and Waverley, with the 20:58 service from Dunblane being hit.
An industry source said: “The driver of an approaching service from Dunblane had to jump from her driving seat as the door struck her train.”
The train which caused the incident was one of Scotrail’s un refurbished, or“classic” former High Speed Trains (HST), which still have oldfashioned “slam doors” which open outwards.
They are operated by turning the outside handle, but are centrally locked while the train is in motion.
The source said: “There are two directions the doors can open, facing back and facing forward.
“When that door hits something, it’s in the wrong direction to knock itself closed, and that’s what this was.”
The operator was forced to press the trains into service last year because of delays with their upgrading, including new electrically-operated doors that open sideways, like the rest of the company’s fleet.
The damaged train was one of Scotrail’s newest, a Hitachi electric class 385.
AS cot Rail spokesperson said :“On Saturday night, while on its way to Haymarket depot with no customers on board, a train door opened and was hit at low speed by a passing train, causing minor damage.
“A Class 385 [train] travelling to Edinburgh Waverley clipped an open door of an HST which was leaving for Hay market depot. It is true the 385 driver left their seat as a precaution.”
A spokesperson for the UK Department for T ransport’ s Rail Accident Investigation Branch( RA I B) said: “The RAIB was notified of the incident.
“From the information we received, it was unlikely that an investigation would lead to safety recommendations, so in this case we are not taking further action.”
“The driver of an approaching service from Dunblane had to jump from her driving seat as the door struck her train”