Freightliner Train Derails at Eastleigh 28/01/20

The 0705 Birch Coppice Freightliner to Southampton Maritime Terminal derailed this morning at Eastleigh causing disruption to services to and from Southampton.

Lead by freightliner class 70 number 70001, the train conveys a rake of empty or loaded intermodal containers or flats.

This comes as the second derailment in 7 days, following the derailment of 6Z54 66154 working Barking Eurohub dbc to Acton on 23rd January. The derailment shut parts of the Gospel Oak – Barking line in the Leyton Midland Road area with reports of around 6,000 sleepers needing replacement.

It’s not yet clear how bad the damage is to the train and surrounding infrastructure. Latest information on forum websites suggests the train derailed on the Down Slow to Down Fast points, with reportedly 3 wagons off the track.

The derailment was lead to by the rails spreading apart, for which was due to a type of fastening giving out. Network Rail issued a press release assuring that other occurrences of this fastening are still in use with no concern. Below quote from the Network Rail press release.

Initial findings by Network Rail have found the cause of the incident to be an infrastructure fault, when a small number of fastenings gave way. This led to track spread – meaning that the two rails were no longer the correct distance apart.

This particular type of fastening is only used in a limited number of locations. Since the incident, Network Rail has conducted enhanced precautionary inspections of all similar fastenings across the Wessex route, with no additional areas of concern identified through this work.

Author: matt

Owner of Rail Record