SVR General Discussion

4930 appears to have had a spot of bother at Bridgnorth

4930 Hagley Hall, looks like it ran through the roller shutter doors
https://x.com/Sirdouglas1994/status/2077719992460517431

 

Seen a bunch of rumours going around already with regards to what happened and damage done, mostly "sourced" from what appears to be a screenshot of a forwarded text message that's allegedly from someone involved which makes mention of "Kiddermisnter" and "Bridgemouth". The wonders of social media...
Feel sorry for them especially as iirc both the loco and the shed are relatively fresh out of having work done.

 

Yes people have sent me 4 versions of rumour today. Please ignore any of them as 90% of what I’ve read is absolute crap. It’ll be revealed once the investigation is done, but tbh it shouldn’t really matter to anyone not involved, other than learning points.

 

Hopefully the crew are unhurt as the main thing, as it doesn't look like it will have been a pleasant experience

 

In the age of social media and smartphones, communication is crucial. This strikes me as a situation where the SVR would have been better served by owning the narrative from the outset, rather than referring to a collision simply as an "incident". There was no obligation to disclose the cause or the details while the investigation was ongoing, but acknowledging what had occurred in a clear and factual way would likely have reduced the inevitable rumours and speculation. Attempts at overly cautious news management often create an information vacuum, and that vacuum is quickly filled with inaccurate and potentially damaging speculation that does little to benefit either the railway or those involved. At worst, it could result in the RAIB noting non-disclosure of an accident.

 

You’d have still got speculation. Everyone loves it too much.

Ultimately how can the narrative be owned until the full investigation and damage report is complete. The facts are to be waited for in my opinion.

 

I disagree strongly. "There has been an incident involving Hagley Hall at Bridgnorth shed. An internal investigation is underway" (preferably accompanied with a picture of the sort that have come out on X) would show transparency, and undermine some of the gossip (removing it all is a non-starter).

 

I’m sure the SVR will have gone through whatever regulatory reporting is required given the particular circumstances - that’s just operations 101, to coin an Americanism.

The news management bit is interesting when you compare it with the recent derailment on the Churnet Valley, for which there was almost zero speculation or online comment. To what e te t the differences reflected different abilities in news management, and to what extent t it is just that the SBR is a bigger railway and will inevitably attract more comment (informed or otherwise), I don’t know. Maybe the CVR were helped by their incident occurring in a more isolated location with fewer people around.

Tom

 

No one was injured.