Safety Investigation Authority

On Tuesday, 17 November 1998, five wagons of a freight train which had started to move on Viinikka freight yard at Tampere, derailed either entirely or partly. After its starting to move the train travelled about 190 meters before stopping as a result of braking caused by a broken brake conduit. The wagons did not derail badly; in fact they all remained upright and the resulting damagewas only slight.

The derailment was caused by arrestors having been left in front of the first wagon. The arrestors slid along the rails up to the turnout crossing where they stuck. The wheels of the wagons rose over the arrestors and fell down again either on the rails or by the rails. The arrestors had been left on the rails as due to, e.g. the lighting conditions, a new working method implemented, and the fact that the new workers engaged in the task had not yet entirely adopted the common working methods.

In order to avoid corresponding accidents, Accident Investigation Board Finland recommends that the working instructions at Viinikka freight yard be further developed so as to eliminate any possible ambiguity or misunderstanding as for the installation and removal of arrestors.

Download here the investigation report, partly in English, pdf-file (412 kB)

• Recommendation S116