This buffer stop atZürich Hauptbahnhof inSwitzerland is designed to move up to 7 metres (23 ft) to slow down an 850-tonne (840-long-ton; 940-short-ton) passenger train from 15 km/h (9.3 mph) without damaging the train or injuring passengers.
Abuffer stop,bumper,bumping post,bumper block orstopblock (US), is a device to preventrailway vehicles from going past the end of a physical section oftrack.
The design of the buffer stop is dependent, in part, on the kind of couplings that the railway uses, since thecoupling gear is the first part of the vehicle that the buffer stop touches. The term "buffer stop" is of Italian origin, since railways inItaly principally usebuffer-and-screw couplings between vehicles.
Several different types of buffer stop have been developed. They differ depending on the type of coupler used and on the intended application.
Buffer stops withanticlimbers. These are particularly important for passenger railway applications, because the anticlimbers reduce the likelihood oftelescoping of therailroad cars during a head-on impact.
Largely because of its mass, a train transfers an enormous amount ofkinetic energy in a collision with a buffer stop. Rigid buffers can safely cope only with very low-speed impacts. (i.e., nearly stationary). To improve stopping performance, a way of dissipating this energy is needed, through compression or friction. Following a buffer stop accident atFrankfurt am Main in 1902, the Rawie company developed a large range of energy-absorbing buffer stops. Similar hydraulic buffer stops were developed byRansomes & Rapier in the UK.[citation needed]
Wheel stops or car stops are used to stop small numbers of light vehicles at the end of level storagetracks or to chock individualrailroad cars on shallowgrades.[2][3][4][5][6]
1902 –Frankfurt am Main,Germany – Serious buffer stop collision inspires development of Rawie range of energy-absorbing buffer stops.
27 July 1903 –Glasgow, Scotland – A train arriving at the St Enoch terminal station failed to stop in time andcollided heavily with the buffer stop, sustaining severe damage. 16 people were killed, 13 instantaneously and 3 at a later time due to injuries received. 64 people were injured, of which 17 required hospital treatment.
28 February 1975 –Moorgate tube crash – 43 killed, 74 injured – buffer stop collision made far worse by small size "tube" train running into larger dead-end tunnel beyond. The tunnel could accommodate full-size surface stock thus permitting the smaller train to concertina inside the tunnel.
13 April 1978 –Budapest,Hungary – commuter train overruns a buffer stop owing to brake failure and crashes into the station building. 16 killed, 25 injured.[7]
8 January 1991 –Cannon Street rail crash, London – 2 killed, 200+ injured – commuter train hits buffer stops.
22 February 2012 –Buenos Aires,Argentina –a commuter train collided with buffer stops at a train station in Buenos Aires during the morning rush hour. The accident killed 51 people and injured more than 700 in Argentina's worst rail accident in 30 years.[8] The buffer stops' hydraulic components were found to be disabled[9] and did not absorb the energy of the collision.
15 January 2013 –Saltsjöbaden,Sweden – A train parked with the control lever at "Full throttle" was set in motion when a cleaner closed the door on a four-carEMU commuter train in Neglinge depot. It reached 80 km/h (50 mph) and overran a buffer stop at Saltsjöbaden station beforecrashing into a small apartment block beyond the end of the track, badly injuring the cleaner.[10]
13 August 2014 –Manila,Philippines – A southboundMRTC 3000 class train of theMRT Line 3 lost power while departingMagallanes station, prompting a second train to be sent to push the train toTaft Avenue station. However, the unpowered train suddenly decoupled while in motion and overshot the retarding buffer at Taft Avenue station. As a result, the train derailed ontoTaft Avenue, causing multiple injuries. An investigation by theDepartment of Transportation and Communications showed that standard coupling procedures were not followed and that the runaway train did not use itsautomatic brakes as it was unpowered, adding that the retarding buffer at the station was only designed to handle a maximum speed of 15 kilometers per hour (9.3 mph).[11]
29 September 2016 –Hoboken, New Jersey – Thecab car of a NJ TransitPascack Valley Line commuter train entering Hoboken Terminaloverran the buffer block on track five at 8:45 am. The train continued across the low-level passenger concourse connecting the platforms and slammed into a wall of the terminal building, causing serious structural damage. One person was killed and more than 100 were injured.
2 November 2020 -De Akkers metro station - a train empty of passengers on theRotterdam Metro crashed through thebuffer stop at the end of the sidings beyond the station. The sidings are built on a viaduct projecting out over the canal. The lead car of the train came to a partial rest on a 10-metre (33 ft) high whale sculpture erected in front of the sidings, preventing the train from falling over the edge and into the canal below.
13 March 2021 –Kirkby, United Kingdom – A Class 507 electric multiple units operated by Merseyrailcollided with the buffer stop. The only injury was the driver of the train. The cause was found to be that the driver was using a mobile phone while he was driving. The distraction led him to enter the station at excessive speed. He was fired and prosecuted, pleading guilty to a charge of endangering the safety of people on the railway.
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