List of wind-related railway accidents

High winds can blow railway trains off tracks and cause accidents.^[1]

Contents 1 High winds 2 Preventative measures 3 By country 3.1 Australia 3.2 China 3.3 India 3.4 Ireland 3.5 Japan 3.6 New Zealand 3.7 Norway 3.8 United Kingdom 3.9 United States 4 Factors 5 See also 6 References

High winds

High winds can cause problems in a number of ways:

• blow trains off the tracks.
• blow trains or wagons along the tracks and cause collisions.
• cause pantographs and overhead wiring to tangle.

Preventative measures

Risks from high winds can be reduced by:

• wind fences akin to snow sheds
• lower profile of carriages
• reduction in train speed

By country

Australia

• Small tornado blows over train. ^[2]

China

• Lanxin High-Speed Railway#Wind related accident
• List of rail accidents (2000–2009) - February 28, 2007 – Wind blows 10 passenger rail cars off the track near Turpan, China.

India

• One reason for choosing broad gauge in India for for greater stability in high winds.

Ireland

• Londonderry and Lough Swilly Railway

Japan

• Inaho
• Amarube Viaduct

New Zealand

• Rimutaka Incline railway accident

Norway

• Makrellbekken (station)#Wind related accident - tractor

United Kingdom

• Tay Bridge disaster
• Chelford rail accident 1894 - during shunting
• East Coast Main Line#Accidents
• Snowdon Mountain Railway#Gripper rail
• Leven Viaduct, Cumbria 27 February 1903

United States

• One reason for choosing broad gauge in BART was for greater stability in high winds and perhaps earthquakes.^[3][4][5]
• Tacoma Narrows Bridge (1940) collapse. This was where resonance caused a bridge to set up a harmonic and effectively shake itself to pieces.

Factors

• lightweight trains a factor
• narrow gauge
• aspects of the terrain ^[6]
• tunnels ^[7]

See also

• Snowshed

References