Train accident in Once (linea Sarmiento) 340 wounded

[French jurist]

http://www.clarin.com/sociedad/Descarrilo-tren-Sarmiento-llegaba-Once_0_650935058.html

occurred this morning

 

[HowardinBA]

in english

http://www.buenosairesherald.com/ar...erails-at-once-station-340-injured-60-trapped

 

[NYKate]

I can't stand the fact that those idiots are more concerned with taking photos/videos than helping out! GRRRR!

 

[Gringoboy]

I hate to sound cold about this horrific accident, but when I heard about it I wasn't in the least surprised. Shocked yes.
Similarly, to how many of us reacted to the accident in Sept.
I use TBA only occasionally and even then with trepidation.
The rail crossings are a joke and the conditions of the trains even worse.
One observer was quoted as saying that his was an accident waiting to happen.
These trains are nothing more than cattle trucks and until someone takes the bull by the horns and brings the rail system in this country up to an acceptable level, I fear that his will not be the last accident.

 

[AlexanderB]

Sorry for the ignorant question, but as a BA newbie I'm very curious as to how the relative safety and maintenance record of these TBA trains stacks up against the Subte, especially the "historical" lines.

 

[syngirl]

I wasn't surprised in the least either. When I lived in Almagro my apartment overlooked the same train line on Diaz Velez. In my year and a bit in that apartment I saw the traind erail two or three times -- and it was obvious the people on it weren't that shocked by the occurence either, since instead of waiting around for police/ambulances etc most just jumped off the train and walked off, going about things as if it was a usual occurence. The problem this time was that it derailed actually in a station.

Re saftey in subte vs trains -- subte much safer, more well maintained. the trains here can be disastrous. and if it isn't the trains themselves it's the drivers (especially buses and large trucks) that ignore the crossing signals and cross the lines when a train is approaching.

 

[Aconcagua]

I hate to sound cold about this horrific accident, but when I heard about it I wasn't in the least surprised. Shocked yes.
Similarly, to how many of us reacted to the accident in Sept.
I use TBA only occasionally and even then with trepidation.
The rail crossings are a joke and the conditions of the trains even worse.
One observer was quoted as saying that his was an accident waiting to happen.
These trains are nothing more than cattle trucks and until someone takes the bull by the horns and brings the rail system in this country up to an acceptable level, I fear that his will not be the last accident.

It does not seem that the train lines in Argentina are an integral part of the transportation system compared especially to Europe but even the U.S. As the colectivo and omnibus are more pervasive and connect to more destinations, there also does not seem to be a financial impetus for capital expenditure in the Argentina rail system. That being said, will we see officials speaking on the topic in the near future? The answer is, of course yes because it is news. Unfortunately, I truly doubt much in the way of pesos will be set aside for the proper investment in safety and infrastructure.

 

[notebook.fix]

The trains are the sole responsibility of the federal K government.

The same national gov who run the trains have also been wholly responsible for the subtes until the subway system was dumped onto the local capital authorities a few weeks ago..This should give you an indication as to what maintenance & safety standards have been maintained on the Subtes until few weeks ago.

There is an endless list of promises that were made by the Federal government about fixing the trains right up until the elections. NOTHING has be done. we still have level crossings, bad equipment, train tracks being held together with loose bolts over bridges, carriages that were imported by the feds from the Spanish Government cannot be be used cause there is NO maintenance or spare parts for them, they are rusting away sitting there idle....the list goes on & on..tooo long for here.

Sorry for the ignorant question, but as a BA newbie I'm very curious as to how the relative safety and maintenance record of these TBA trains stacks up against the Subte, especially the "historical" lines.

 

[Aconcagua]

The trains are the sole responsibility of the federal K government.

Up until a few weeks ago the subte was also totally under the control of the federals.

The same people who run the trains have also been responsible for the subtes..This should give you an indication as to what safety standards are being practiced with the Subtes.

Then this incident is certainly going to put K´s Falkland Islands smear campaign on the back burner.

 

[marksoc]

The Sarmiento line is being revamped. There are 24 formations, more than half of those are new, or revamped cars with A/C (3-4 are the superb 2-floor new trains, some 10 or more are 1-floor with A/C, some of them the new "aerodinamic" line). The rails have been changed, everything was running better. But, they had old trains in the line still, and one of those was THIS one.

I would take the line from the private concessionaire and with the money now lost to him change all the old remaining cars right away. I would also investigate the possibility of sabotage, after all, this is the country where a neocon-peronista (M***m) destroyed a town (Rio Tercero) to hid illegal weapons´trade.