Train accident in Netherlands, 4/4/23

[whole diary]

[stuving]

From Reuters:

One killed in train accident near The Hague, 30 injured
By Toby Sterling


A general view shows aftermath following the derailment of a passenger train after it hit construction equipment on the track, in Voorschoten, Netherlands April 4, 2023 in this picture obtained from social media. Kyrlian De Bot/via REUTERS

VOORSCHOTEN, Netherlands, April 4 (Reuters) - At least one person was killed and 30 injured, many seriously, when a passenger train carrying about 50 people derailed in the Netherlands early on Tuesday after hitting a construction crane, officials said.

Rescue teams were seen ferrying away the injured in pre-dawn darkness at the scene of the accident at Voorschoten, a village near The Hague. The accident happened around 3:25 a.m. (0125 GMT), emergency services said.

Nineteen people were taken to hospital. Others were being treated on the spot, the emergency services said.

Dutch Railways official Carola Belderbos said the train collided with the crane and the injured included the driver and two conductors.

The front carriage of the night train from Leiden city to The Hague derailed, emergency services said. The second carriage was on its side and a fire broke out in the rear carriage but was extinguished, it said.

Earlier reports said the passenger train had collided with a freight train. Dutch Railways spokesperson Erik Kroeze said a freight train carrying chalk was involved in the accident but could not give details.

[broadgage]

Later new report here.  https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-65170980

Interesting view of the accident, at least three vehicles derailed, one of which is thrown clear of the track. Provisionaly one dead and about 30 injured as earlier reported.

[stuving]

The emerging story (on railforums) goes like this:

There a four tracks through Voorschoten, very roughly north-south. Just to the south of the platforms, a road-rail access point has road access only on the west side.

The two eastern tracks were closed for engineering work, using this RRAP^▸ (Road Rail Access Point), so go get off those tracks and back to the road meant crossing the two western, live, tracks.

A goods train going north on track 3 from the right (east) side struck an RRV^▸ (Road Rail Vehicle), which was probably off the track but still foul of it, between the two live tracks. The RRV was pushed onto the western track (4 from the right).

A passenger train going south on track 4 from the right struck the RRV pretty much head on at 130 km/hr. The RRV driver was killed and the train derailed sharply off the track to its right.

That may not be 100% right when all is known, but it does hang together.

[Electric train]

The Netherlands Railway is one of the safest in Europe, I'm surprised this accident happened in the way mentioned in Stuving post

[stuving]

The Netherlands Railway is one of the safest in Europe, I'm surprised this accident happened in the way mentioned in Stuving post

Having a good safety record means keeping the number of accidents very low, but no-one can get it down to zero. For this kind of work you need to be good at sticking to the procedures, as individuals and the whole organisation. But procedures are still operated by people, and unexpected things happen.

It looks as if the initial collision of the goods train with the RRV^▸ (Road Rail Vehicle) was in fact quite violent. Two pictures show this:

First, from a local railforums member (citycat) who came across the goods train being recovered with its locomotive. It was taken from the undamaged (right) side, and at first it's not obvious how much of the far side ought to be visible but isn't. It's just not there any more (and that includes the buffer that side).

Then this overhead view from NOS (roughly, a Dutch BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) news service). The two platforms used to end in line with each other, so much of the end 2 m of the platform the RRV was thrown against has gone.