Tiefencastel derailment

Tiefencastel derailment

Photograph of the derailed carriages.

The derailed carriages.
Date 13 August 2014
Time 12:30 CEST
Location Tiefencastel, Graubünden
Country Switzerland
Rail line Albula Railway
Operator Rhaetian Railway
Type of incident Derailment
Cause Landslide struck train
Statistics
Trains 1
Passengers 140[1]
Injuries 11[1]

The Tiefencastel derailment occurred near the municipality of Tiefencastel, Switzerland, on 13 August 2014 when a passenger train travelling on the Albula Railway was struck by a landslide and derailed. Eleven people were injured, five seriously.

Accident

The train was hauled by this Ge 4-4 locomotive.

At 12:30 CEST (10:30 UTC) on 13 August 2014,[2] a Rhaetian Railway passenger train on the Albula Railway was struck by a landslide and derailed. The train was travelling from St. Moritz to Chur.[3] Of the seven-coach train, one carriage was left almost at right angles to the track down an embankment, and two others were derailed.[4][5] Trees prevented the carriage from ending up in the Albula.[3] Eleven people were injured, five seriously. There were 140 passengers on the train. Two of the injured were Japanese and one was an Australian.[6] The other eight victims were Swiss.[7] In one of the derailed carriages, passengers moved to one side of the carriage in a bid to prevent it from plunging into a ravine.[8] The train was hauled by Ge 4/4 III-class locomotive No. 651.[3]

Four helicopters and eight ambulances assisted in the rescue operations. All the passengers had been evacuated within three hours of the accident.[3] They were taken to Chur by bus to continue their journey by train.[6] In a twelve-hour period before the accident, rainfall was recorded at a 50-60 litres per square metre, about half the average rainfall for the month of August in the area, according to a statement by MeteoSwiss.[3] The railway reopened on 16 August. On that date, six people remained in hospital with injuries described as "non life threatening".[5]

Investigation

The Swiss Accident Investigation Board has opened an investigation into the accident.[2] A separate investigation was opened by the Canton of Graubünden.[5]

Similar accidents

Other instances of trains actually being struck by falling rocks and being derailed include -

References

  1. 1 2 "2 passenger train wagons derail in the Alps after landslide". RT. 13 August 2014. Archived from the original on 13 August 2014. Retrieved 30 September 2014.
  2. 1 2 "Entgleisung" [Derailment] (in German). Swiss Accident Investigation Board. Archived from the original on 14 August 2014. Retrieved 14 August 2014.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "Un ange gardien était du voyage dans le train" [A guardian angel was watching the journey of the train]. 20 Minuten (in French). Archived from the original on 14 August 2014. Retrieved 13 August 2014.
  4. ↑ "Zware treincrash in Zwitserland" [Severe train crash in Switzerland] (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 14 August 2014. Retrieved 13 August 2014.
  5. 1 2 3 "Train route back on track after accident". swissinfo. 16 August 2014. Archived from the original on 14 August 2014. Retrieved 18 August 2014.
  6. 1 2 Raven, David; Roberts, Gareth. "Swiss train crash: Live updates as railway boss hails guardian angel after 200 passengers escape alive". Trinity Mirror. Archived from the original on 14 August 2014. Retrieved 13 August 2014.
  7. ↑ "Schweizer, Japaner und ein Australier sind verletzt" [Swiss, Japanese and an Australian are injured]. 20 Minuten (in German). 13 August 2014. Retrieved 14 August 2014.
  8. ↑ "Swiss train derailed in landslide". BBC News. Archived from the original on 14 August 2014. Retrieved 13 August 2013.
  9. 1 2 Hoole, Ken (1983). Trains in Trouble. 4. Redruth: Atlantic Books. p. 24. ISBN 0-906899-07-9.

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