Railways may get “obstacle warning” kit

THE Majorcan Railway Service, SFM, is considering acquiring apparatus which can be fitted to trains to warn the driver of obstacles on the line, Palma City Council's Transport director Antoni Verger said yesterday.

The device, said Verger is already in use by operators of Spain's high speed national train service, the “AVE” as a means of accident prevention and could help forestall situations where debris fallen onto the track fails to be detected in time by train drivers.

Just such a situation happened two weeks ago on Majorca when a train near Sineu station ran into boulders and earth which had collapsed from a retaining wall, resulting in carriage derailment and the injury of around 35 people. Verger said the acquisition of the device is pending an exhaustive investigation by technicians of all retaining walls on the track between Sineu and Manacor.