Re: Brisbane suburban train crash
  Greg

IIRC in recent times at the Sydney Tramway Museum one of our drivers was a Qantas 747 pilot who had to pass a Qantas medical every three months. This medical was not acceptable to the authorities so he had to do a separate medical for a Category 2 medical to drive a tram with a second person on the platform.

Greg

--- InTramsDownUnder@..., "Bob Pearce" wrote:
>

> Hi all,

>

> The medical for a bus driver is not as stringent as for a rail train or tram

> driver - well not in WA anyhow.

>

>

>

> I have to have both - the Category 1 medical to driver a tram and because I

> work in the rail industry; and a bus type medical because I driver buses.

>

>

>

> The bus type medical doesn't cover half of the stuff that a cat 1 medical

> does, but I am yet to convince the boffins here that a cat 1 medical should

> be able to substitute for a bus industry medical, if the person concerned

> has to have a medical for each industry.

>

>

>

> And before someone starts to leap up and down, I am not advocating that bus

> industry workers should have a cat 1 medical.

>

>

>

> And on a previous topic where a suggestion for a name for idtent drivers in

> cars and so on (write it down as id10t) was asked for, I could suggest

> "Steering wheel attendants" which is used for some bus and truck drivers.

> Full of the qualifications, but no savvy or smarts about them at all.

>

> In fact some are about as sharp as a bowling ball.

>

>

>

> Cheers

>

> Bob in Perth

>

>

>

> From:TramsDownUnder@... [mailto:TramsDownUnder@yahoogroups.com]

> On Behalf Of Adam Greaves

> Sent: Monday, 4 February 2013 3:04 PM

> To:TramsDownUnder@...

> Subject: Re: [TramsDownUnder] Re: Brisbane suburban train crash

>

>

>

>

>

> Maybe it was a rhetorical question... I'm not actually aware of any in the

> harbour (but doesn't mean it hasn't happened) but plenty have been unable to

> hold speed on steep descents and there have been fatalities. OTSI has

> investigated a few in recent years (Jindabyne, Barrengarry, Jamberoo) with

> different factors contributing (driver error due to inexperience, inadequate

> braking to due poor maintenance). Not quite the same, but my 'favourite' is

> still the Spit Rd bus crash of 2005... Also reminded of last week's US

> incident where passengers intervened when the bus driver passed out. Both

> were only not much worse by luck.

> So, train/tram drivers are subject to medicals, there are deadman devices on

> trains and trams, plus vigilance on trains, and ATP coming, ATP on the

> off-street Sydney Light Rail, and the vehicles are almost always constrained

> to the rails. On a bus you have... a driver who has had a medical. Just

> another molehill on the level playing field...

>

> Adam

>

> On 3/02/2013 9:07 AM, rnveditor wrote:

>

>

>

> Instead of building male toilets across the end of tracks, build a USA

> fast-food joint. Most drivers would then stop with care, and the rare crash

> would result in no serious loss to the world.

> Victoria had an example recently of wiping out a bank (ie money, not an

> earth mound) at the end of a siding: is anyone going to demand rippling

> speed stops in sidings?

> How often do aeroplanes overshoot airbridges, and plough into the terminal

> concourse?

> TDU often comes up with photos of trams overshooting a terminus and landing

> in Sydney Harbour. Could fancy electronics have solved that? That was solved

> by getting rid of trams. How often do buses land in Sydney Harbour?

>

> Roderick B Smith

> Rail News Victoria Editor

>