MarkC Posted March 4, 2016 Report Share Posted March 4, 2016 It should be POSSIBLE however surely there should be a procedure to do it rather than just a ride host being able to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benin Posted March 4, 2016 Report Share Posted March 4, 2016 Ride hosts can't do it, only engineers can... With this incident, it comes down to miscommunication... Op was probably told there was a train stuck, but not stalled... What with a train on the lift, it's a fair assumption to make in my book... They got it wrong, but even the more stringent procedures cannot account for human error without going overboard (take this for example, multiple hosts will now have to do visual checks outside and press a button/use a key... What was once a quick reset will take a lot longer to do, safer yes, but not practical)... The high pressure of the theme park world causes a lot more human error than is actually openly documented, I can tell you that for certain... But risk assessments, as detailed as they are, cannot always account for them... And that's the same for any industry... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt 236 Posted March 4, 2016 Report Share Posted March 4, 2016 I think it's safe to assume the following when Smiler reopens: 1/ breakdowns will take longer to resolve (30 minutes for small problems 1 hour for larger ones) 2/ if/when Smiler breaks down in it's early months of (re)operation ride staff will likely be very nervous 3/ the ride will never run 5 train again 4/ trains probably won't be dispatched until the one ahead has passed lift 1 (or 2 even) 5/ Smiler's popularity will be dipped. Whilst it will still get queues, it won't be as excessive as it used to be. I.E moderately busy days the ride will get a 45-60 minute queue and peak days the ride will get a 90-120 minute queue. 6/ if the ride still seems busy, it's probably because the throughput has been reduced. As a result it'll probably be achieving more like 800PPH from now on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pluk Posted March 4, 2016 Report Share Posted March 4, 2016 I think it's safe to assume the following when Smiler reopens: 1/ breakdowns will take longer to resolve (30 minutes for small problems 1 hour for larger ones) 2/ if/when Smiler breaks down in it's early months of (re)operation ride staff will likely be very nervous 3/ the ride will never run 5 train again 4/ trains probably won't be dispatched until the one ahead has passed lift 1 (or 2 even) 5/ Smiler's popularity will be dipped. Whilst it will still get queues, it won't be as excessive as it used to be. I.E moderately busy days the ride will get a 45-60 minute queue and peak days the ride will get a 90-120 minute queue. 6/ if the ride still seems busy, it's probably because the throughput has been reduced. As a result it'll probably be achieving more like 800PPH from now on. 1/ doubt it. It's all camera'd up, processes in place. The processes will have to be followed and gotten used to, but they'll be up to speed soon enough. 2/ as 1. It will be routine in no time. 3/ why? that wasn't the problem. 4/ again, not the problem. The block system actually work perfectly, until someone over rid it. The overriding process is what needs to change. 5/ probably. I can see the queue times being less than that, like they were even before this. 6/ if your earlier guesses are right the throughput will be nearer 80pph than 800, and the queue will start in the coach park. I'm sure if they couldn't open it confidently and with a way of running it sensibly they wouldn't bother at all. HermanTheGerman, Mitchada04, Ricky and 3 others 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mitchada04 Posted March 4, 2016 Report Share Posted March 4, 2016 I don't think it will run 5 trains because it was always pointless running 5 anyway, as you'd have at least 2 stacked majority of the time. 4 train operation achieved basically if not the same throughput as 5. So if Towers are tight with money, and they've even ordered a new train or anything, they'll probably only get one new one as the 5th was useless anyway (only really good as a spare). Like Pluk said, the staff on it will be trained highly with the new procedures. During testing they'll have no doubt had to deal with breakdowns and testing the new procedures. If anything, they need to run it as smoothly as possible. Long delays will make the public think something is wrong, or the ride is the issue. The block system did its job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yeah Posted March 4, 2016 Report Share Posted March 4, 2016 The (majority of the) cars you see on the road are deemed safe to use. Doesn't mean they won't crash.That logic doesn't just go for the Smiler though, most rides are deemed safe, so who's to say there will never be another coaster crash in the world?Sent from my SM-G361F using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pluk Posted March 4, 2016 Report Share Posted March 4, 2016 who's to say there will never be another coaster crash in the world? Of course there will be. Cars, train, plains, and coasters will all crash occasionally. Not everything is foreseeable and not every human infallible. It will happen. But your odds are good. Noting is ever completely safe. Being alive always carries the risk of death. The first half kind of reminds me of Varney being interviewed just after the incident while the other parks remained open! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yeah Posted March 4, 2016 Report Share Posted March 4, 2016 Of course there will be. Cars, train, plains, and coasters will all crash occasionally. Not everything is foreseeable and not every human infallible. It will happen. But your odds are good. Noting is ever completely safe. Being alive always carries the risk of death. http://youtu.be/3m5qxZm_JqM The first half kind of reminds me of Varney being interviewed just after the incident while the other parks remained open! That's what I'm saying. I guess what I mean is nothings impossible but it is mathematically unlikely there'll be another incident exactly like this on The Smiler, at least not in the near future.Sent from my SM-G361F using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobF Posted March 17, 2016 Report Share Posted March 17, 2016 http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b073bs0y/midlands-today-17032016 You might find this interesting to watch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamminGamer Posted March 17, 2016 Report Share Posted March 17, 2016 Watching that through was interesting. Glad they've let them speak out about safety, should help the general public in coming back. Frustrating to hear the reporter reference Galactica as a new roller coaster though! When will they learn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stretchy Posted March 18, 2016 Report Share Posted March 18, 2016 Interesting reactions from the news person there. At the end of that piece I was convinced that the guy who was at Alton Towers hates theme parks. The words he used and the inflections he used and more importantly the expressions on his face as he was saying them felt to me like he had been told to say that there was lots of checking going on and he personally didn't believe theme parks were safe. Maybe that is just my 'pro theme park' biased view reading of his expressions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coaster Posted March 20, 2016 Report Share Posted March 20, 2016 Great to see that The Smiler was popular today, it had a queue time between 90 - 100 mins for most of the day according to several Facebook pages and the queue times website. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark9 Posted March 20, 2016 Report Share Posted March 20, 2016 Must have been a tense moment on that initial first ride even though we as geeks all know the ride is safe. I'm glad the ride had a trouble free day and hope that the media starts to put the incident behind them. Hard to read some of the idiotic comments over social media frankly. pognoi, dragon2000, OldFarmerDean and 4 others 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stretchy Posted March 21, 2016 Report Share Posted March 21, 2016 The first ride of the day was populated by Park Management. pognoi and Tom 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThemeParkCrafter Posted March 29, 2016 Report Share Posted March 29, 2016 What surprised me most about the accident (not the actual accident), was general public's knowledge of it. So many people I have been with thought people died. Han30 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yeah Posted March 29, 2016 Report Share Posted March 29, 2016 What surprised me most about the accident (not the actual accident), was general public's knowledge of it. So many people I have been with thought people died.My friend has some weird hatred thing for Towers now, I tell him to go so he can experience Nemesis (he thinks from the POVs that its a tiny drop and so Nemesis Inferno is better) but he won't budge, his reply is "But the Smiler kills people" "No it doesn't" "Well it kills their legs!"Sent from my SM-G361F using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Han30 Posted March 29, 2016 Report Share Posted March 29, 2016 I will never forget queuing for Samurai literally 2 or 3 days after The Smiler crash and when Saw was closed - a couple of people behind us said "oh yeah, Saw is shut cos 2 people died on it the other day". I literally smacked myself round the head! chessingtonSam - your friend should get his butt to Towers - no amount of POVs give that ride the credit it deserves - I don't like comparing Nemesis to Inferno but out of the 2, for me Nemesis wins hands down. stretchy and Celia Mae 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Posted April 22, 2016 Report Share Posted April 22, 2016 Merlin have pleaded guilty to breaching health and safety laws over the Smiler crash, expecting a large fine to be coming their way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StevenVig Posted April 22, 2016 Report Share Posted April 22, 2016 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-36111412 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt 236 Posted April 22, 2016 Report Share Posted April 22, 2016 not good news, but then again this was all expected. I think it's safe to say the park probably expect numbers to remain low this year over what was to come which is why so many attractions and outlets remain shut in the present. I hope things can get back to normal sooner rather than later from this terrible accident that happened. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coaster Posted April 22, 2016 Report Share Posted April 22, 2016 There are some pictures of the trains in this article, shocking stuff really. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3553426/Alton-Towers-owner-court-Smiler-rollercoaster-crash-cost-two-young-women-legs-injured-three-passengers.html Just wanted to quote one particular section: 'There was an absence of a proper settled system for staff to work to in certain situations and one of those was that when one of the up-to-five trains came to a halt around the system in one section there was not a good enough system for staff to interact with that problem and a proper procedure to sort it out. If this is true then it is appalling, however it's the daily mail so it probably isn't. EDIT: The photos came from here. http://press.hse.gov.uk/2016/hse-statement-alton-towers-owners-plead-guilty-to-safety-failings/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benin Posted April 22, 2016 Report Share Posted April 22, 2016 Gonna go on wild assumption here, but there was probably some form of system in place, but there wasn't enough training done on what to do in such a situation... Or perhaps the instructions weren't clear enough... Either way, those images show how lucky only lost two limbs... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattyMoo Posted April 22, 2016 Report Share Posted April 22, 2016 That's a direct quote from the HSE so one would assume it is correct. Which would back up the reasoning why multi-carriage similar Merlin rides were taken out of service whilst new procedures were put in place after the accident. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TraX Posted April 22, 2016 Report Share Posted April 22, 2016 Gonna go on wild assumption here, but there was probably some form of system in place, but there wasn't enough training done on what to do in such a situation... Or perhaps the instructions weren't clear enough... Either way, those images show how lucky only lost two limbs... Additionally, for all of us who have worked for Merlin will know that sometimes corners do get cut and a bond with the engineering team, mean somes rules do get bent every once in a while. If the ride op was listining to the engineer, I wouldn't be suprised at all... just a thought at least. The main issue I think is that they severly underestimated the rides ability to stall mid way through the course and how to react to it. Mer 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobF Posted April 22, 2016 Report Share Posted April 22, 2016 There have been track block resets out bybthe entrance to there has to be a visual check now confirmed by a button press at more locations to ensure track is clear before a reset can be attempted. Most costers have a reset button for a block at top or bottom of lift brakes, stations ect Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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