What are third rail issues?

Article Talk. The third rail of a nation's politics is a metaphor for any issue so controversial that it is charged and untouchable to the extent that any politician or public official who dares to broach the subject will invariably suffer politically.



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The third rail is probably the hardest danger to see. It looks just like an ordinary rail, but it carries 750 volts – easily enough to kill you. It's designed to send power to the train, but you are 70 per cent water and the perfect conductor for this electricity. If you touch the rail, you will “stick” to it.

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Andy Morris survives 625-volt zap after being pushed onto live third rail in drunken brawl.

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This is why birds do not die from landing on power lines, and subway rats do not get electrocuted even if they run across the third rail; they are not bridging the energized wire or rail to a grounded part of the structure.

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According to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), since 1975, there has been an average of 1.3 train accidents per year involving fatalities. Compare that with 2,584 aviation accidents and 700 bus accidents over the same time period.

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Compared to other popular forms of travel, such as cars, ships, buses, and planes, trains are one of the safest forms of transportation in the United States.

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Truck crashes tend to be local and less dramatic than a pile of derailed train cars on fire, even if they're deadlier. In fact, federal data shows that rail has had far fewer incidents, deaths and damage when moving hazardous materials in the U.S. than trucks.

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It's this third rail that provides the electricity that powers the train. If you touch the third rail, that electricity tries to power you instead, which never goes well. This use of third rail dates to the dawn of the first subway systems, in the 1860s.

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#1 Sri Lanka Tsunami Train Wreck The train, dubbed the Queen of the Sea, was destroyed by the Indian Ocean tsunami on December 26, 2004, in what is now considered the world's deadliest rail tragedy. It was a holiday weekend in Sri Lanka due to the full moon and the Christmas holiday weekend.

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