There where several people in the chain of events who could have prevented the accident. Fundamentally it was an avoidable accident and if anyone in the chain had said no it would have not happened.
Cherryville 1983 was as most accidents are a werid set of events, the reason the train stopped is totally irrelevant. It was technically avoidable however the magic rule 55g actually permitted the driver to pass the red signal. While there is all kind of discusions about dodgy telephones, bad tail lamps, no radios and disputes over the time it took the guard of the Tralee train to go back and protect the train, the Galway train passed a red signal in compliance with the rule book and tail ended the Tralee train. The CIE rule book was unclear about the speed to adopt in this condition.
Dalkey 1979 was a straightforward signal passed at danger, again the reason the train ahead was stationary is irrelevant
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