RAILROAD ACCIDENT REPORT - REAR-END COLLISION OF SEPTA-CONRAIL TRAINS NUMBERS 406 AND 472 ON CONRAIL TRACK, NORTH WALES, PENNSYLVANIA, JULY 17, 1980

About 7:56 a.m., on July 17, 1980, Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA)-Consolidated Rail Corporation (Conrail) commuter train No. 472 struck the rear of SEPTA-Conrail commuter train No. 406 while it was standing on the No. 2 track east of the station at North Wales, Pennsylvania. The rear car of train No. 406 overrode and destroyed the empty lead car of train No. 472. Of the estimated 321 persons on the 2 trains, 64 passengers and 3 crewmembers received injuries. Damage to the equipment was estimated at $1,475,000. The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of this accident was the failure of the engineer of train No. 472, who was operating the train from the second car, to observe the roadway ahead and to keep the brakeman in the lead car in his view so he could receive the brakeman's hand signals to properly control the train, and Conrail's failure to take the malfunctioning equipment out of service when repairs could not be effected.

• Corporate Authors:

  National Transportation Safety Board

  Bureau of Accident Investigation, 800 Independence Avenue, SW
  Washington, DC  United States  20594
• Publication Date: 1980-12-23

Media Info

• Pagination: 33 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Alertness; Casualties; Commuter cars; Crash investigation; Crash reports; Crashes; Electric multiple unit cars; Injuries; Judgment (Human characteristics); Locomotive engineers; Locomotive operation; Maintenance; Maintenance practices; Management; Passenger cars; Policy; Railroad transportation; Rear end crashes; Vehicle maintenance
• Identifier Terms: Conrail; Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority
• Geographic Terms: Pennsylvania
• Old TRIS Terms: Locomotive engineer's tasks; Management policies; Passenger car maintenance
• Subject Areas: Administration and Management; Maintenance and Preservation; Policy; Railroads; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00336660
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: National Technical Information Service
• Report/Paper Numbers: NTSB-RAR-80-11
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Jun 12 1981 12:00AM