Channel Tunnel Fire
 

Channel Tunnel Fire.

http://fyad.org/w55s

Eurostar no services Friday.
http://fyad.org/w55z

Update

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/pressass/20...g-6323e80.html

Thanks for keeping us informed Alan.
I was hoping to use the Channel Tunnel for the first time this winter but it looks like the damage will be pretty extensive.:(

I hate it when this happens, but, just as a side thought...

Am I the only one who finds open tarpaulin covered trucks + chemicals + OHL + Potential sparks a bad combo? = /

Is it the best policy to stop the train in the tunnel ? - It was seven miles to the exit which is about 5 minutes traveling time. It means traveling into the tunnel futher and to tackle it and thus harder to fight the fire plus all the amount of damage it causes to the tunnel. The enclosed carriages should be stronger enough to last that time before the train emerges from the tunnel.
And maybe be a go idea to have special water spray booths at each end of the tunnel for trains to stop in to fire fight blazing trucks instead of waiting for fire services to arrive.

I don't think so, aren't the carrages the trucks are on open to a degree, like metal cages?

The problem with continuing to move the train is the potential to damage longer stretches of tunnel as the train moves through, the possibility of derailment, etc. etc. Plus you want to be as away from that thing as possible incase it goes up, those trucks have fuel on board etc.

Far safer to just stop and get out quickly.

Looks like they're sending two test trains into the tunnel right now, with a view to resuming services tonight or in the morning.

I shouldn't think that there is much in a modern tunnel that would be damaged to any great extent by a fire moving across it. Most serious damage occurs when the structure is exposed to prolonged high temperatures such as when the burning train comes to a halt. I don't know if the Channel Tunnel train drivers have any say in deciding whether or not to stop or if the train is automatically brought to a halt by a safety trip system.
In the new Lötschberg Base Tunnel in Switzerland it is left to the driver to decide where and when to stop based on the information at his disposal.

Tunnel fire update.

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/pressass/20...l-6323e80.html

"Investigators are likely to examine the presence of a lorry carrying highly flammable carbolic acid, or phenol, which it is claimed overturned before the blast."

How can a lorry overturn in a freight wagon (caged) when the train is going more or less in a straight line??

Tony.

I agree Tony.
Some of the HGV's on the Swiss Piggyback trains bounce around quite a bit when going over pointwork but they don't overturn.

Perhaps the rail vehicle suffered a catastrophic failure and the whole lot toppled over?

Wouldn't that have likely derailed the train, or uncoupled the car from the rest of the train at the very least?

Who's to say that it didn't?.......... that could be why the train was brought to a halt.
The media seem to have very little factual information and most reports are pure speculation or based on "eye-witness" reports from lorry drivers whose view of the incident would have been very restricted in any case. Once the investigators get to work we will probably start to discover some of the facts.

Channel Tunnel Reopens
 

Channel Tunnel Reopens.

http://fyad.org/w5zd

Am I the only one who finds this fire massively suspicious? The same apparent cause as last time in more or less the same circumstances. Correct me if I'm wrong but this lorry with apparently red hot brakes was loaded onto a lorry shuttle up to an hour before departure after waiting around for departure for even longer, but after all that cooling time it manages to reignite only when safely in the tunnel. I don't believe even a red hot wheel will stay at flammable temperature for that long! And there was no smell or smoke at all before departure - doesn't that all sound beyond the realms of "normal" probability? Jacques Gounon has rejected this apparent explanation and I agree with him. The tunnel is now an economic success. Who stands to gain from its economic sabotage?

Because a derailment at speed that resulted in the toppling of one car would probably result in the toppling of others, probably the majority of the train, and if anyone did survive *that* to tell the story they'd certainly have noticed. If the train derailed to such a degree as for any part of it to turn onto it's side then no doubt that would have been reported by now.

I remember the 1996 fire, when a lorry loaded with (I think) expanded polystyrene chips caught fire. The policy at the time was "if you catch fire, keep going in the same direction PDQ" but the train driver ignored this and stopped. I later heard that £200,000,000 worth of damage was done, but I find this hard to believe. I reckon the principle damage will be to OHLE and signalling wires.
Swiss Trains - if you do manage to get on the Eurostar, I can tell you it's quick (St. Pancras to Cheriton in about 30 mins!) and it's smooth. I didn't think much of the seats - my bum went numb on 2 occasions, but there's a lot of it!!!!!!!!!!! The tunnel itself is nothing to write home about.

43006

If you say so.
I was simply trying to create a scenario in which someone might have got the impression that the lorry had overturned.

Anything of this nature should NEVER in a month of Sunday's be allowed through such a confined space. WHERE were the so-called H&S 'Experts' to allow this to pass through? WHOEVER GAVE THE OKAY FOR THIS TO GO THROUGH THE TUNNEL SHOULD BE BL**DY WELL SACKED AND IMMEDIATELY, NO MATTER WHAT SIDE OF THE CHANNEL.

Maybe we should wait until we find out all of the facts before we call for heads to roll. Serious though the fire was, nobody died, thankfully. It's only through the proper investigation of accidents that lessons are learnt.

These sort of incidents will always happen. It is a moment of indecision, or a moments lack of concentration that usually causes them.
The need to load and unload as quickly as possible to maximise profits, will always mean that corners are cut and that set procedures get "Altered". Not officially of course, but altered they will be.
If anyone is to blame, and Trev is right to say we should hold back till we see the results of any enquiry, then my guess is that someone lower down the chain of responsibility gets it in the neck. I am getting very cynical in my autumn years.
Paul.