Railway Safety Scare: 28 Trains Crossed Fractured Rail Before Kildare Line Closure, With Potential Catastrophe Averted Thanks To Alert Drivers

Monday, 22 January 2024 at 10:45

By Martin Osborne

Under different circumstances, there could have been fatalities and derailment.

On February 23rd last year in Kildare, a mainline railway track experienced a total of 28 passenger trains passing over a fractured rail before the line was ultimately closed.

That's despite the issue being reported by the drivers of the initial two trains over three hours prior to the closure.

While in transit near Newbridge, a train's automatic warning system detected an issue on the rail.

The driver reported the potential fault between the Newbridge and Sallins and Naas stations at 7:11 am to a signalman.

Another incident occurred when another driver on a Carlow-Dublin Heuston service encountered a similar alert from his train's continuous automatic warning system (CAWS) 13 minutes later while traversing the identical area.

Following the second driver's report, an Iarnród Éireann staff member was dispatched to investigate the suspected fault.

However, it wasn't until 10:52 am that the broken rail, featuring a 10mm gap, was ultimately identified, leading to the immediate cessation of all train operations on the line.

The piece of broken rail had only been installed less than a month earlier.

A speed limit of 40km/h was imposed on the track until a permanent repair was completed.

Speaking on Kildare Today, freelance journalist Seán McCárthaigh said under different circumstances this could have been serious with the potential of fatalities and derailment.