Commuter Train Crashes into Station | Plainly Difficult

On 10 May 2002, a train traveling away from London derailed at high speed, killing seven and injuring 76 The train ended up wedged between the station platforms and building structures, at Potters Bar UK.
Thank you to Jago: / @jagohazzard
Learn with Plainly Difficult!
Thank you to my Patreons, KZbin Members and Paypal Donors, your support keeps the lights on!
Join this channel to get access to perks:
/ @plainlydifficult
My Album: madebyjohn.bandcamp.com/album...
This weeks Outro Song:
► • The G-L-A-D-E-S Shoppi...
SOCIAL MEDIA:
► Twitter: / plainly_d
► Instagram: / plainly.john
EQUIPTMENT USED::
►SM7B
►Audient ID14
►MacBook Pro 16
►Hitfilm
►Logic X
MUSIC:
►Intro: Scheherazade (Rimsky-Korsakov)
►Outro: Second Sun (Made By John)
OTHER GREAT CHANNELS:
► / dominotitanic20
► / cynicalc. .
► / jabzyjoe
► / @qxir
Sources:
www.railwaysarchive.co.uk/doc...
www.theguardian.com/world/200...
www.theguardian.com/uk/2002/m...
#disaster #Documentary​​​​ #History​​​​​​​​​ #TrueStories​

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Thanks for watching, check out me other bits! Thank you Jago: www.youtube.com/@JagoHazzard My new Album: madebyjohn.bandcamp.com/album/ambient-archiv-1 Outro Song:kzbin.info/www/bejne/mWKTpH-VgNR5hbc Instagram: instagram.com/plainly.john/ Patreon: www.patreon.com/Plainlydifficult Merch: plainly-difficult.creator-spring.com Twitter:twitter.com/Plainly_D

[@aaronzimny8201]

Good piece as always. Thank you!

[@piratemousie]

🎉 Hey there! It would be super cool if you could cover the Cave Creek disaster in Aotearoa. It was massively tragic and entirely preventable, but no one knows fuck all about it outside of Aotearoa, I think you'd do a great job!

[@shurmurray]

Checked the merch. Where is thoose bingo cards? (:

[@mattwilliams3456]

Hey John, I got no ads on this video. Is everything set for monetization?

[@tin2001]

You and Jago should try and find a UK railway disaster that neither of you have covered (or did so long ago that you think you could improve) and do a collaborative video.

[@PNW_Marxist]

If I were the rail driver that reported the rough ride, correctly and in detail, I would be absolutely livid and heartbroken at the company bungling it and not checking the very specific section of rail I mentioned. No words.

[@sapphireseptember]

I agree. Probably a bit of misplaced guilt as well. 😟

[@oliverbrigstocke1306]

I’ve met him, he’s a driver now

[@nvelsen1975]

And if my experience in the railway industry is even 20% reflective, you'd have angry failing boomer maintainance crew backed up by union thugs on your case if you ever spoke up critically about it.

[@phillipsmiley5930]

The then CEO of Railtrack was gerald corbett, his claim to fame is almost every company he headed he's manage to run into bankruptcy, after Railtrack he wrecked Woolworths UK. He's known as the man with the reverse Midas touch, everything the touches turns to S#it. Many werent please that he left railtrack with almost a £million severance, on top of his already excessive pay

[@ianfromnyc]

@@nvelsen1975Well then your experience is 0% reflective because as both a driver and a "union thug" I have never known either ASLEF (the drivers' union) or RMT (the maintenance union) to back down from a fight over safety issues. In fact, although it was only briefly mentioned in this video, pressure from the unions following Potters Bar and a few other incidents attributed to poor maintenance contributed to the replacement of for-profit private corporation Railtrack with non-profit publicly-owned Network Rail.

[@oliverbrigstocke1306]

Here’s a cool fact, the staff member who reported the rough ride, is now a driver himself

[@nickv4073]

Here's a cool fact. There are many many many conductors who work their way up to driver. Its a common promotion.

[@mbryson2899]

I grew up in Cicero, Illinois, USA, an industrial town that bordered on Chicago. Trains of all types were everywhere, and one of the largest railyards in the US was located in the middle of town. As a kid back in the 70s I was occasionally allowed to tag along with maintenance crews. (It was a different era, few thought to sue if a kid did something dumb and got hurt.) I was fascinated and learned a lot by watching and from the workers who believed that kids should learn anything they wanted. I still remember how meticulous they were about point maintenance; all work was checked and double-checked before the line was pronounced clear. Now, though, they run everything with skeleton crews. Short-sighted and dangerous to say the least. PS- Nice outro music, John!

[@kimhohlmayer7018]

❤️

[@jed-henrywitkowski6470]

Don't worry pop's, some of us were raised right, it may have taken some of us a bit for the lessons to sink in, but those of us who don't do things like sue when we get the cosquenses of being dumb do exist.

[@Beverstoncastle5068]

So, a team leader that I had actually witnessed the aftermath of the the incident in the video. The way that things are going now in the UK, he said that it's almost worse than when Potters Bar occurred

[@fredjones554]

Thanks for sharing

[@Miki90Mar]

This definitely went off the rails quickly

[@trainlover16]

🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️

[@bsadewitz]

help

[@SombraCheeks]

they need to get back on track

[@adrianfitzpatrick4638]

Boom boom!

[@lukasvondaheim]

Learning the cause was nuts!

[@wilting_alocasia]

Jago!? 😂 That confused me so much when Jago's voice suddenly appeared 😂

[@Eddyspeeder]

This! But it was quickly replaced with geeky excitedness over the cameo!

[@mattscudder1975]

I came here to say the as basket and Eddy!

[@wilting_alocasia]

​@@Eddyspeeder Same! XD

[@roberthindle5146]

Jago gets everywhere

[@aterxter3437]

Well, in France, we have had such a disastrous train crash : one "petit gris" electric self-propelled train, in direction to Paris Gare de Lyon, was halted at a station due to someone pulling the emergency brake, panicking when she realized that the train wasn't going to stop at her station. When trying to get into traffic, the train's brakes were locked. The drivers, already 20 min behind schedule, though it was due to an overpressure in the pressure brake line. He purged it, but forgot to reconnect it correctly, leaving the brakes permanently open. After climbing a ramp toward Paris Gare Lyon station, and realizing dreadfully that he hasn't any braking, he pulled the emergency signal for the train regulation. That caused the train to be drived towards it's first programed platform, which was changed as it was behind schedule. In the end, the brakeless train collided at high speed into an overcrowded other "petit gris", which was wating for departure authorisation. The platform became a hell of twisted steel and entangled passengers in wrecked train cars (it was a self-propelled system, the propulsion was made in the cars)

[@richardmillhousenixon]

I remember seeing a documentary on that incident. Huge amount of respect for the late conductor of the stationary train. He saw the oncoming train and instead of ditching to save his own life, he spent his last moments ordering passengers to evacuate, likely saving many of their lives

[@liamcollinson5695]

She was a mother if I remember correctly I know she probably didn't mean harm but she basically killed people to make her journey a bit shorter

[@zipsey]

Great english!

[@DaleDix]

​@@liamcollinson5695 not really. Everything after she did that caused them. She couldn't be expected to know that nobody knew how the train worked.

[@lordcaptainvonthrust3rd]

She was picking her kids up from school. When she was on the wrong train she didn't want to be late for her kids. And the rest is history ​@@liamcollinson5695

[@zJoriz]

The bingo card also needs a "guilty parties walk free" item, even though it didn't apply this time ;)

[@darksunrise957]

Well, that would definitely be the "free space" square...

[@TrynityMirell]

Finally. Multi-Track Drifting

[@theZigCat]

i came here for this! =)

[@marcusyoutubegamineer]

💀

[@darksunrise957]

Yeah, I was expecting to find this comment XD

[@MonzennCarloMallari]

And they said it was impossible!

[@wilting_alocasia]

That first clip of the rain on the rails reminds me of how soothing it is to be on a long distance train journey when its raining. I love to read, have some coffee and just enjoy the rain spattered windows with the scenery flying by

[@Jabarri74]

I recently visited my daughter read a half of a good book i picked up along the way and I loved it. So much less stressfull than driving

[@AnIdiotAboard_]

@@Jabarri74 not on a work day. I'll take an hour of road traffic than suffer thru the cattle car of he'll followed by the zoos of monstrosity and finally the taxis of death. Commuting for work is a miserable experience in any weather

[@MAGGOT_VOMIT]

Hope they were playing some 🎶Speed-Metal🎶 before the crash!! 🤣

[@Jabarri74]

@@AnIdiotAboard_ I'm lucky enough to be able to cycle to work in 10 ninutes. I dont envy those working in cities and having to commute

[@AnIdiotAboard_]

@@Jabarri74 7 to 9000 miles every 6 weeks, and i wouldnt change it for anything.

[@marvindebot3264]

I feel sorry for both the reporting employee and the inspecting track worker, neither of whom can be blamed but must have felt the weight of the disaster on their shoulders.

[@keithammleter3824]

The inspecting track worker should share some of the blame. One thing I learnt in investigating customer complaints (not in rail) passed to me via a system, is that there will be a fault, but not necessarily where I have been told. If everything looks ok, you need to look further, and not just dismiss it. When the guy found the supposed points ok, he should have asked himself how the message may be been corrupted - maybe its one of the other points? Especially he should have taken the report more seriously, since 100 MPH trains necessarily make faulty points very dangerous.

[@ivertranes2516]

​@@keithammleter3824 Agree 100%. When the points he was sent out to inspect were fine, he should have checked all the others at that location, just to be safe. Instead, he did the bare minimum, resulting in maximum confusion and delay.

[@RT-qd8yl]

Coming from a railroad family in the US, it's always interesting to see how things work/worked in the UK compared to over here. Thanks for your content John!

[@andywomack3414]

At least the Brit term for "frog" more accurately describes function. I saw a car pick a switch. Train entering yard, same car, two tracks doesn't work.

[@lofthouse23]

I would like to stress that UK's railways are very safe. Yes, we've had some.... blips over time where poor souls have lost their lives, but overalls our railways are safe. (Not to mention hardly any trains run at the moment....)

[@Moose6340]

You have an incredible knack for making a complicated technical explanation really simple. That's why you're closing in on one million subs...that and your great artwork and your droll humor!

[@ArDeeMee]

Oh gosh, he’s really getting close to 1m. Let’s gooo!

[@DreadVos]

Genuinely, I never actually cared about trains before finding your channel. I now have an incredible respect for all persons, technology, and the sheer quantity of regulations written in blood.

[@tokencivilian8507]

What I like is that this vid highlights how the UK and US are two nations separated by a common language. "Points". Aka a "switch" in common vernacular to those of us on this side of the pond. Great vid PD.

[@Soundbrigade]

Not to mention ’railways’ and ‘railroads’.

[@execthts]

Someone here in the comments is calling them "turnouts"

[@JimAllen-Persona]

I was a bit confused by that as well. I was thinking.. is he talking about a part of a switch? Still a good video as always… and as a NYC commuter.. “rough ride” is par for the course. A few years ago, I was going through some switchwork that literally bounced me out of my seat (mind you, I’m 6’5” 375 lb (195 cm, 175 kilos)

[@christinaknapp1980]

Your comment on "rough ride not being what we think it means" had me confused at first because my mind went to the US history route and thought it referred to the Rough Riders headed by President Teddy Roosevelt. Then, my brain caught up and realized, "oh, a euphemism".

[@Gazarhya]

Point maintenance has come on a long way since Potters bar, with Remote condition monitoring, tubular stretcher bar etc. I started on the railway a matter of months after this and rember the general state of points, it is far removed from that today. That said, it was a long road, as illustrated by Greyrigg in 2007 (I think?) which was a very similar accident.

[@angelmessenger8240]

I really enjoy your breakdowns of these disasters. Not because I'm a ghoul but because I want to know why things happen. The fact that you do it in a logical and clear manner with no hysteria or loud music, is appreciated. Also you give your audience credit for intelligence which a lot of creators don't, they have to keep repeating themselves in case you don't get it the first time, which is infuriating when they can just replay the video. Thank you for all your efforts.

[@5roundsrapid263]

It’s critical to learn from mistakes to keep things like this happening again.

[@justeunfan3364]

This kinds of videos are really great to understand how and why security stuff works. I think its way better to here a story of what happen when it go wrong than trying to learn by heart that "this do that, this do this, but we have no idea why its doe this or whas designed that way."

[@wilsjane]

The good thing about the internet, is that if you loose the plot, you can wind back a couple of minutes.

[@dfuher968]

I know exactly what u mean! They do it in tv produced docs too, Seconds from Disaster being the worst, Ive ever experienced, with constant repeatitions of already incredibly dumbed down explanations, sensational music and their constant annoying tick-tock. This is SO much better than tv docs and the vast majority of sensation content here. John does a really bang up job!

[@truckerallikatuk]

Nice job getting Lord Jago of Hazzard to read the report for you. A good video of a terrible incident.

[@johngavin2570]

WOAH an announced advert break? NOBODY DOES THAT. Kudos. Idk why but that made my day.

[@macstevins]

theres also a cue mark on the top right corner to signal that theres an ad break is coming

[@TheAechBomb]

​@@macstevinsI appreciate the audio warning because I just listen instead of watch much od the time

[@corrinarobinson7078]

Trainly Difficult? amiright?...

[@abbiearcher4716]

Love how you point out where the place is with a severed hand.

[@AnIdiotAboard_]

Well the tickets cost a leg and a pound of flesh so why not.

[@RT-qd8yl]

@@AnIdiotAboard_ And you'll likely be unarmed

[@Soundbrigade]

Still in chock … 😱😱😱😱😱

[@gryff8400]

Love the advert flags in the top right corner. Only people who remember old telly will know what they are - the signal for a loo break and to put the kettle on 👍🤗

[@RT-qd8yl]

I've always wondered what that was for. Do ads show up for people when those bars come on then? I use Brave so it's been quite a while since I've seen a youtube ad.

[@gryff8400]

They came up on itv to signal the programme would be halted for adverts. From memory on at 1 minute for 5-10 seconds. Off until ten seconds before adverts when the bars appear until...2 seconds before adverts. Used to cue the tape machines. This is from memory - for sure there are more accurate explanations available 👍 Very similar to the cigarette burns on old films to allow the reels to be synced and changed by the projectionist.

[@rixxroxxk1620]

From the US here! Had no clue what they meant! Thank you!

[@Soundbrigade]

Kettle?! What kettle …. Oh, got it. This is a British youtuber 😉. (Watching every single British criminal series on the telly, I realize that Lipton must make bigger revenues than Prozac ….)

[@AaronOfMpls]

Jay Foreman uses those too for his in-video sponsor ads -- though he uses animated flags (flashing between black-and-white and white-and-black) that look like they were clipped directly from old standard-def TV.

[@davidfarrow875]

As a retired former driver I can confirm that we are completely in the hands of the track engineers for all things rail safety and that you cannot legislate for some idiot just plain getting it wrong. I was driving the first train to approach an small piece of track at Wembley Central that had been reported by an earlier driver. It had been inspected with a 20mph temp speed restriction imposed. The warning boards were placed and then along I come with a fully loaded 8-car class 350, approaching at 100mph downgrade on a wet rail. The warning board is supposed to be placed at a distance that will allow the train to be slowed from line speed using a normal Step 2 or 50% brake application. I saw the warning board, shut off power and applied 50% brake. I had a small amount of initial wheel pickup on the wet rail, then I went into the North Wembley neutral section - this is a small bit of dead overhead wire between two electrical sections. On a Class 350 this knocks out the electric dynamic braking for 16 seconds so you go to full tread braking. The whole unit, all 8 cars, picked up (the wheels locked and slid) so I had absolutely zero control over what was happening. I thus went through the 20mph TSR at around 65mph. I reported it to the signaller then filled in the necessary paperwork at the end of my shift. Unusually on this occasion I did get a report back from Network Rail. The person who had set the warning board was completely unaware of the effect of a neutral section on dynamic braking capability and also they had miscalculated the braking distance needed by applying the line speed of the slow line (75 through Wembley Central) to the fast line (100 through Wembley Central). This sort of incident is what we drivers called a code brown !

[@mfbfreak]

So the antilock brake system does not work on battery power? Interesting, i never thought about that. That must be frightening.

[@davidfarrow875]

@@mfbfreak The dynamic brake cuts out through a neutral section - dynamic brake is a very strong electric retarder effect from the traction motors as they feed power back into the overhead electric wires. On Class 350s it makes about 60% of the brake force and is responsible for the classic Desiro 'chirp' sound when it is braking. When that cuts out it goes to 100% disk brakes, so if the rail is slippery, and you suddenly have all your brake force through the wheels, off you go. The speedo drops to zero, the big yellow wheel-slip light comes on. It certainly focusses the mind, that's for sure !

[@naz2468]

@@davidfarrow875 even more code brown when you happen upon a wrongly distanced 20mph TSR with 2000 ton and a class 66 doing vmax at 75mph haha

[@matthewjolly9161]

I feel like I have a healthy, working knowledge of the railways solely from Plainly Difficult

[@capt.bart.roberts4975]

I was at work the day this happened. I've always wondered how in hell the coach ended up jammed across two platforms. Now I know. I'm a first responder, trauma technician, I've a weird skillset.

[@thing_under_the_stairs]

Weird skill set maybe, but a good one to have! I mean, my grandfather was a firefighter, mechanic, and tailor, and I've done everything from sailing on cargo freighters on the Great Lakes to working as an art therapist in a trauma and crisis intervention program, with a stint as a pro-Dominatrix in there somewhere, so I think weird skillsets are what make for interesting people!

[@erikaswanson7072]

​@@thing_under_the_stairs​Well,with a stint as a pro Dominatrix, you may be used to talk of such things as rough rides and chains..

[@kaitlyn__L]

@@thing_under_the_stairsfor a second I thought you said your grandfather was a dominatrix, and I was wondering why he was dominating clients as a woman! Thankfully I re-read your comment and realised my mistake, so I didn’t foolishly ask you why your grandfather was a dominatrix. Thank god. Anyway, better now tell you what I almost foolishly asked :)

[@thing_under_the_stairs]

@@kaitlyn__L That's hilarious! Gramps would have had a good laugh over that. Thanks for the chuckle!

[@Razielchan666]

I think it's also scary because the train actually came onto the platform. Just imagine if it had been crowded.

[@janemiettinen5176]

Seeing a train coming towards you, sideways and on two different tracks, must be one of the things no one expects to see, ever! Just the photo was crazy enough. Next time Im on one of those smaller platforms, this is bound to come in mind.

[@hectorpascal]

As a once regular user of Potters Bar station before the accident, the thing that REALLY used to worry me was the flapping of the cantilevered concrete canopy, when a fast upline express roared through the platforms!

[@19JGH71]

I was there that day. Most shocking thing I have ever seen with my own eyes and will never forget it. There was a sea of emergency vehicles and florescent jackets all along the high street. When the train was removed from the station they covered it with large blue tarps, craned it onto a low loader on the high street. The high street was lined both sides with hundreds of people and you could hear a pin drop, it was as silent as the immediate seconds after the actual crash. A shocking disaster and totally preventable.

[@Sashazur]

Sounds awful. I know it’s not always possible, but I try to avoid seeing the aftermath of crashes etc if I possibly can. I don’t want nightmares!

[@LeviJamesRE]

Whatever you obviously wasn't there because seeing something like that would traumatise you. You wouldn't go back gawking at the train been removed after.

[@grapeshot]

If I remember correctly two of the victims were from Taiwan. And one of the victim's mothers was very upset with the UK government and their lack of clarity when it came to this terrible incident.

[@henrybennet5667]

The pronunciation on ‘Hertfordshire’ actually killed me 😭

[@DiseaseShaker]

You can always rely on KZbinrs to mispronounce names, including place names they should have heard at least once on TV or radio!

[@petehiggins33]

I found it quite hurtful.

[@freemysoul123]

That Hurtfordshire'd my brain.

[@lasennui]

Across the pond. How is it supposed to be pronounced? Hartfordshur? Hetfurtshire?

[@petehiggins33]

@@lasennui Yes, Hart-ford-sheer, or Hart-ford-shire or more usually Hart-ford-sher and always with the emphasis on the Hart.

[@Dunny261]

Having youtube premium, and not getting an Ad when i see the cue dot has been frustrating. Its the one time im looking forward to getting an Ad, and i dont get the pleasure 🤣 its like blue balls

[@HaesslichG]

14:03 - the sabotage was done by the maintaining company, via neglect.

[@bsadewitz]

Ah yes, there's that avante-garde electronic railroad music that has come to characterize Saturday morning. "Balls"!

[@thomascook578]

I think, this was the last straw with the privatised Railtrack and were liquidated and became network rail. Sadly if NR get away with the cuts they want to do in maintenance, this may become an all too real occurrence again on UK railways

[@phils4634]

With the many, essentially financial, crises that the UK is currently experiencing, along with frank reluctance to spend on anything other than "glamour" projects such as the now much - curtailed HS2, yes, this will PROBABLY become a more commonplace occurrence.

[@adder3597]

​@@phils4634Yes and no on HS2, we absolutely need something like it to help take the strain off the WCML, and it's only been as expensive as it has because we have had to build the logistics chains and train skilled workers to build it (same reason Crossrail was so expensive). The point about blatant underfunding or lack of funding is very fair though.

[@cd0u50c9]

Say hello to Mr. Hazzard - his voice is instantly recognisable! Great presentation as always, these videos are so well done and the balance of analysis to mood of delivery is spot on.

[@awkward__lizard]

Thank you for making the videos detailed enough for folks who know nothing about railway maintenance or terminology easily understandable and detailed enough that the science about what happened is clear and you give the victims respect.

[@markgr1nyer]

The first rail disaster I remember watching on 24hrs news. I also remember watching a documentary where one of the passengers in the last vehicle was a fighter pilot, and he had a good memory of what happened has the vehicle rotated, but it was black and white as his brain discarded colour so his brain could take it all in I smiled when Jago's voice sounded for someone authoritarian lol

[@alisonwilson9749]

That's really interesting about the B&W thing. I'd love a reference (my job is about colour).

[@markgr1nyer]

@alisonwilson9749 unfortunately it was about 15 years ago i saw it, i just remember it as being fascinating how training in hugh pressure situations can do that when most peoples brains would not be able to remember what was happening due to the intensity of the situation

[@truthylucy7068]

"It's not what your dirty mind is thinking!" A rough ride! Lol! 😂😂😂😂

[@user-ym4xy6us5e]

I was mildly insulted by that dig. I interpreted the statement literally as was intended. The author apparently has a low opinion of his audience.

[@framekixrr]

@@user-ym4xy6us5eIt’s a joke you melon

[@FannyLerouxTime]

Aww it was so nice hearing Jago in the video! His channel is honestly really interesting, I can't recommend people following him enough!

[@travelingjere]

I did not expect the severed hand😂

[@admiral_franz_von_hipper5436]

Best thing to wake up to on a Saturday morning, another disaster video.

[@bsadewitz]

Balls!

[@darksu6947]

​@@bsadewitzBig sweaty monkey ones

[@GonzalezSix67]

I just want to say thank you for constantly providing great quality videos! I greatly appreciate all the effort you put into creating these videos!

[@nikoskonstantinou3681]

In about a month, it will be the 1 year ""anniversary"" of Greece's major railroad accident (Two trains got into the same track and collided on maximum speed). It would be cool if you were able to make a detailed video related to this accident at some point.

[@Mgameing123]

It would not be a good idea to do a recent rail accident because you need wait alot of years until the case is fully closed.

[@quoniam426]

A similar accident happened at Bretigny station in France in July 2013. A badly maintained bracket near a point went lose and derailed an intercity train on two different tracks, the coach that streched on the platform killed seven people. The amount of wounded inside the train was about the same as the Potter Bar disaster. I'd say, same speed, same cause, same effect basically. When It occured I remembered reading years earlier about the Potterbar disaster and I told myself: "Here we go, the French railways, so renown for their reliability are now at the dismal level of the British Railways..."

[@Mumbles274]

Love the random clip of the RH&DR!!

[@mh1593]

Love the disaster bingo card . Thanks for the background on this event.

[@eliscanfield3913]

"Rough ride" in regards to trains was exactly what I thought, lol. My mind isn't usually dirty

[@darksu6947]

Mine is worse than a sewer. I need help! 😂

[@oweynew]

As someone who lives in potters bar this really helped me to understand how it happened

[@paul6925]

Looks like someone lent you a hand with that map! 😂

[@funkyfinnegan]

lol, I stopped and rewound.

[@paul6925]

😂😂😂@@funkyfinnegan

[@SandTurtle]

god i cant imagine sitting at a train station, not paying attention to the train, when all of a sudden it detaches and flips heading straight towards me. what a horrible way to die

[@sarahwiththetrains]

Brilliant video! I was 10 at the time of the crash and remember the news reporting vividly. It's really great to hear everything broken so simply. Such a tragedy.

[@Saismee]

hertfordshire is actually pronounced like "heart" and not "hurt." aside from that, great video. i think "Overly Confident Official" should be blotted too because of jarvis blaming terrorism

[@LMB222]

2:00 the best example of the mess on UK railways are the four tracks where HSR meets local trains: The two external tracks are marked in mph and miles/chains, with British signalling. The two internal tracks are in km/h, and the distance is in kilometers/hectometers. The signalling is identical with the French one, and I don't even think they translated the signs to English (which is actually good - sticks to one standard)

[@alisonwilson9749]

I often work in an unholy combination of Imperial and Metric...even occasionally measuring things in feet and centimetres rather than feet and inches, which horrified a young assistant I had once, who reacted like I'd broken one of the Ten Commandments......but I'm not in a safety critical industry. It's just more convenient for me to do some things that way. If I had to chose, for my job I'd choose Imperial, as on the whole feet and inches are the two most convenient units for my work. Metres are too big for almost everything I do, and I can use yards anyway if I need anything that long, cms are too small and rarely get quoted anyway, and mm are a right pain in the neck, the numbers get truly stupid. I really hate it when timber lengths of six feet or more are quoted in mm.

[@Idler_JP]

@@alisonwilson9749 With a brain like that, thank god you don't work in a "safety critical industry"... I'm guessing you're a painter?

[@ianfromnyc]

I don't sign that route, but aren't the HS1 lines controlled by a different signaller than the Network Rail lines? Yes, they use different rules and standards right next to each other, but you could say the same thing about the areas where LU and NR share infrastructure. I know of at least one station where LU, NR, and Tramlink all run right next to each other on adjacent lines using different rules, signals, and signage. It's perfectly safe as long as there is a clear delineation where one ends and the other begins.

[@dat_chip]

I had honestly never heard about a "chain" before. And the word "imperimetric" had me pause the video laughing.

[@sabersz]

@@dat_chip a chain is roughly 22 yards. You slowly get used to them working in the railway

[@RyuKaiser92]

I've always grown up with the rail company's being privatised, the fact that jarvis was a private company maintaining critical infrastructure with obvious failings makes me question privatising the railway in the first place. People always seem to crap on network rail but i can at least have some what comfort knowing they are looking after the tracks effectively and performing maintenance when it is absolutely necessary, even if i have to take a dreaded bus replacement service. Renationalise the network, bring down ticket prices.

[@thing_under_the_stairs]

In my experience, privitasation usually brings a steep drop in quality along with a sharp rise in prices. It's certainly been the case in my province's electrical operations, and the attempts to bring in more private healthcare options are sadly doing the same to our health system too.

[@alisonwilson9749]

Stanley Hall's later books on railway accidents go into the effects of privatisation. As time went on, he worked out that most of the big accidents since privatisation were due to privatisation one way or another, and mostly to the way privatisation was done- too fast, for political reasons, and without listening to the industry itself. He wasn't against it in principle, at first, but in practice, he came to be unhappy with it, because it was done so badly. His last book on it was 'Beyond Hidden Dangers'. I recommend it, and his earlier books.

[@Idler_JP]

@@alisonwilson9749 Ah yes, it wasn't the privatisation that was bad, but just the way it was implemented. Just like communism!

[@thing_under_the_stairs]

@@alisonwilson9749 The trouble is that I've never seen a case where privitasation has been done well in practice, because in private business the be-all, end-all goal is to make money rather than to do a good job at whatever it is you're doing. And when applied to necessary infrastructure or healthcare, that can only lead to worse outcomes for the people who need it.

[@ve2vfd]

Crazy accident, but not surprising with the culture of lowest bidder subcontracting. Also nice to hear a Jago Hazard cameo, when the video started I remarked this would be in his wheelhouse.

[@jwarmstrong]

China does the same subcontracting but 2 or 3 levels of bribes are included

[@liberteus]

For anyone wondering, the into jingle comes from Scheherazade from Rimsky-Korsakov (if i remember correctly)

[@danielvanced5526]

Personally I think the latest rules to report rough riding to Control/TOC rather than signaller is going to make these sorts of maintenance issues worse again. Tracks are currently in a terrible state in places, and some trouble areas pop up on a yearly basis.

[@ianfromnyc]

I just checked the latest module TW1 section 5.3 and it still says to report rough rides to the signaller. The instruction to report to your TOC only applies where you have previously reported a rough ride you think it may be deteriorating on a subsequent journey. I agree with you that it isn't ideal, but it's not true to say that you are no longer expected to report a rough ride to the signaller.

[@danielvanced5526]

​@@ianfromnycit says nothing about previously reporting it. It only mentions a deterioration from that previously experienced. That was added purely to reduce delays and reduce the need for track inspections. The entire railway is deteriorating at this point. We have one section of track that has to be fixed yearly because it slips towards an embankment making it feel like you're about to end up on the motorway below.

[@ianfromnyc]

@@danielvanced5526 It's implied. The rule is clear that the driver must report suspected track defects to the signaller. So either the driver is encountering the suspected defect for the first time in which case they are to report it to the signaller, or they are encountering it a subsequent time in which case they need only report it to the TOC because they will have already reported it to the signaller previously. Also, I would point out that although it says you "do not need to tell the signaller about" a rough ride that has deteriorated on a subsequent journey, it doesn't say that you can't, only that you must report it to the TOC. In other words, there's nothing that says you can't report it to *both* the signaller and the TOC, which personally I often do if I think my reports are being overlooked by one party or the other. I also copy in my ASLEF H&S rep for good measure.

[@simongleaden2864]

I like the geeky stuff about railway tracks, points and signals etc. John has a gift for making technical matters understandable and interesting.

[@UK.RoadsCyclingandTransport]

having Jago in your video was the cherry and icing on the cake of this quite detailed video

[@quietdignityandgrace]

Imperial-Metric??? Finally our two cultures can communicate properly. I see great things for the US / UK relation moving forward. Brilliant. Just don't tell Canada, k?

[@youmukonpaku3168]

Too late. You've admitted you don't use moose per fortnight and now the Mounties are on their way. Pour Francais, dit

[@aaronzimny8201]

Surveyors in the U.S. still use chains as a measure of distance as well. All of our sectionalized land was originally surveyed with chains (Gunter's chains) equaling 66 feet. 10 square chains is an acre.

[@markr.devereux3385]

Are you speaking of rods ? I remember a conversion chart in Jr high-school.

[@aaronzimny8201]

@@markr.devereux3385 rods (also sometimes called a pike) are 16.5 feet. There are 4 rods per chain.

[@knottyal2428]

10 chains to one furlong. Equals 220 yards. 8 furlongs to one mile. Equals 1760 yards. One chain is the length of a cricket pitch.

[@aaronzimny8201]

​@@markr.devereux3385yes, it's part of the same system. There are 4 rods per chain.

[@markr.devereux3385]

@@knottyal2428 4 rods = 1 chain. ...1 rod is 1/320 mile exactly. I guess they are related and derived from imperial measurements.

[@BiohaZd5]

Loving your animations. They keep getting better and better.

[@barttheanorak]

I was working in the Sainsbury’s just outside the station. We became a hospital very very quickly and the regional manager came in to thank us for our hard work at the end of the day. But we were all pretty traumatised and my job was under threat anyway so I just asked them to bring my redundancy forward which they did.

[@carpemkarzi]

FYI I love the bingo card. Also hello from an oddly warm part of Calgary Alberta

[@sapphireseptember]

Wondered if this was going to be about Hatfield or Potter's Bar. Hatfield was another train disaster that stayed with me. Reading about it as an adult made me so angry! Four people died and it cost the UK millions of £s because the company in charge of the rails didn't replace a bit of track that they knew was damaged!

[@sapphireseptember]

Ah, Railtrack, we meet again! They were at fault in the Hatfield disaster as well. How no one got charged for their incompetence is beyond me. Jago! Good evening, my fine fellow! RIP to the people who died that day. ❤️ Not something you expect to happen when just going about your business.

[@mattscudder1975]

Nice cameo Jago! Would love to see more of this.

[@johntaylorson7769]

Thanks for all the great videos (and weather reports)!

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Thank you

[@thejudgmentalcat]

"Looks shyte mate" such an understatement 😳

[@hyperturbotechnomike]

I have studied english in the UK midlands for a year and the whole railway network can be summarised as a "rough ride". As a German-Lithuanian, i always thought the rail network of my two countries were the worst. With constant delays and cancellations in germany and outdated, very shaky and loud soviet trains in Lithuania (many of them are replaced by now, thankfully). In the UK there are both problems. Shaky slow trains, delays and as an addition, a lot of curves. My wife was with me and studying and her younger sister was visiting us. They are siberians from the upper Baikal lake area and is used to shaky roads and wobbly rust boats, but the younger sister almost had to throw up in the train. In contrast, the best rail experience, i've ever made were in east asian countries. Reliable, comfortable and no delays.

[@user-ym4xy6us5e]

The UK has railroad infrastructure dating back 200 years. Your country tried to take over the world in a bout of fascist insanity and genocide and was bombed into oblivion in WWII. Your infrastructure is newer than theirs, but I wouldn't be eager to thumb my nose if I were you.

[@hyperturbotechnomike]

@@user-ym4xy6us5e "bombed into oblivion" is a bit exaggerated. Perhaps Dresden and Berlin were bombed into oblivion, but the rest not so much. I live down in the south, where most remained intact.

[@silphonym]

​@@user-ym4xy6us5ethat is bullshit. Most of the German railway lines weren't destroyed during WW2, and there were analog signals from the 19th century in use even until a few years ago, if not up to this day. Maybe it helped at some points, that there was a need to rebuild after the war, but the overall system is still an amalgamation of lines built during the last 200 years and not something built from the ground up in the last 80.

[@hyperturbotechnomike]

@@silphonym I believe the main historic difference is that Germany always had a mostly unified rail network owned by the state, while in the UK it was always a bunch of different companies and regions, which all had their own standards.

[@silphonym]

@@hyperturbotechnomike that's also not the case. The German rail network began before Germany was unified in 1871 and I don't think it was centralised at that point, but I'm not sure about that. You are correct though, in that it was often state owned from the beginning, but that didn't mean it was unified or followed a cohesive plan for all of Germany.

[@GooseWaffe]

Plainly Hazardous! Jago difficult! Love a great crossover, you two are the calm voices of youtube

[@nathangillmore5064]

A fantastic breakdown, as always, John! That graphic of Rrailtrack with the wide eyes and the gun coming out from the side lol...

[@drockjr]

I just subscribe for the final 30 second outtro learning about Johns local weather in gloomy london

[@twocvbloke]

Having experienced many a "rough ride" on Class 142 Pacers to and from Colne in Lancashire (where I used to live), with them bouncing about like they're about to leap off the tracks and fall over, the thought of them doing so and both them and us passengers ending up in a mangled mess often sat on my mind as I sat there watching the rubbery joints between the two halves stretch and strain with the two carriages twerking away, quite scary to experience really, thank goodness they retired the things, though, even modern trains are susceptible to rail faults, but, there was always that "what if?" in the back of my mind as it was being jostled about like jelly on a plate...

[@lewisdsd]

I love you Jago !! Great to see you here !

[@jacobfreeman5444]

I like how you unabashedly admit these episodes are you just geeking out

[@beliasphyre3497]

This one is gonna be off the rails.

[@SombraCheeks]

RIP. Plainly Difficult very informative and respectful as always

[@smileymalaise]

Yeah, RIP Plainly Difficult. We will miss you very much.

[@juliamcwilliam]

I’m really hoping I’ve misread this comment!!

[@Floofie_boi]

He ain't dead or leaving KZbin

[@cmjones01]

As a regular user of the WAGN services into King's Cross, I was impressed to see how well the Class 365's body withstood being slammed sideways into a station at the best part of 100mph. If it hadn't been so strong, the death and injury toll could have been so much worse. Those who designed and built that train did a good job.

[@lindseyroberts7427]

I’m here for the disaster of the week 🤣 Thanks for another amazing video!

[@williamcorcoran8842]

Let’s get this good man to 1 million subs! It’s a plainly difficult thing to do, so spread the word!

[@brianedwards7142]

Damn you! I've had Scheherazade stuck in my head for a week. I thought I would fix it by listening to all 50 minutes of it it in it's entirety... TWICE but it's stuck there, playing in my head even as I type this. J'ACCUSE!

[@lachlanlandreth9069]

Great to hear Jago in this video! Always a high quality Mr Difficult!

[@erikthenorviking8251]

It's akin to hearing James Robertson Justice aka Sir Lancelot Spratt in a serious medical programme.

[@teecefamilykent]

Oooo awesome video, plus JH, awesome!

[@neiloflongbeck5705]

For those who don't know it, Hert in Hertfordshire is pronounced as Hart not Hurt.

[@zetectic7968]

He did it in another recent video about Berkshire

[@RT-qd8yl]

They should spell it with an a then

[@neiloflongbeck5705]

@@RT-qd8yl why? We love heating non-native English speakers or Americans stuff it up.

[@RT-qd8yl]

@@neiloflongbeck5705 I mean if you want to spell it differently than you want it pronounced, you can't really raise a fuss if people don't abide. If there's 8 billion people in the world that say it one way and 27 who say it the other way, well there you go... 😁

[@Zeo--]

Engrish.

[@prjndigo]

Chains are still used because of the rail segment length. 66' is a useful length of 20.12195 meters

[@nattybking]

I always enjoy your documentaries, my husband thinks I am a bit strange lol, but I just find the process of establishing what went wrong fascinating. Thank you for another brilliant video.

[@cynthiatolman326]

Every Saturday morning with my coffee thank you John

[@user-jp9tq7lt5v]

I recently read this accident report, as you hadn’t covered the Herts train crashes in the early 2000’s. Now waiting for you to cover Hatfield. Less tragic but, shockingly, Jarvis were the less incompetent subbie and Hatfield was what put Railtrack in the coffin. You did an excellent job of explaining the points. Even as a qualified mechanical engineer with some of the technical details.

[@AnIdiotAboard_]

You got brass balls covering this one. Usually videos on the subject get crucified, so lets see how you do....

[@cw4608]

LOL, I passed the ‘dirty mind’ test. I love your illustrations/animations.

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Glad you like them!

[@randomguy-tg7ok]

Interesting to note how well the system responded to the actual accident - it was detected as soon as it happened by multiple systems, and all trains in the area were immediately told to stop. So at least most of the system was working as it should have done.

[@KriegZombie]

Multi-track drifting!!!

[@RT-qd8yl]

Formula RR

[@Floofie_boi]

*Deja Vu intensifies*

[@Lycantherous]

multi track drifting !!!!

[@MrChopsticktech]

Another great one, John!

[@chris5706]

I never thought I would be so interested in all the nerdy stuff -but this was fascinating

[@Secean]

Is there a particular day in the week that is more accident prone than others? It would be fun to see some statistics about that ^^

[@thing_under_the_stairs]

Monday. It has to be Monday.

[@erikaswanson7072]

Any day that ends in Y.

[@Secean]

@@thing_under_the_stairs That was what I was thinking too! ^^

[@thing_under_the_stairs]

@@Secean It just makes sense. In general, people hate Mondays. They don't want to be at work, doing work stuff. Some might still be tired, or even hungover from weekending. Second choice goes to Fridays, when people tend to bollocks around, pay less attention to the job than the clock, and possibly even skive off a bit. Yes, this is cynical, but I've worked in customer service.

[@machendave]

The worst reporting is word of mouth through several different people.

[@Bacopa68]

Purple monkey dishwasher.

[@Christian-gi7kn]

Love all your videos, can't help but leave a like! 🖤

[@nixer65]

I have been waiting for you to cover this - I remember it happening.