C11/​1998R Two rail­go­ing lor­ries col­lid­ing at Vesanka, on June 23, 1998

23.06.1998

On Tuesday 23 June 1998 two railgoing lorries collided on the Jyväskylä – Haapamäki section of line, west of Vesanka station. One person in one of the railgoing lorries was injured. In the accident the railgoing lorries and a truck on the pallet of one of the cars were damaged.

The accident was a result of a Tka 217 railgoing lorry having speeded – in consideration of the circumstances – when entering its worksite. It collided with another railgoing lorry Tka 142 already working on the same occupied zone. The Tka 142 railgoing lorry had arrived from Vesanka and the Tka 217 was arriving from Petäjävesi. The accident was generated by the poor braking effect of the brakes in the Tka 217 railgoing lorry, the slipperiness of the rails, and the fact that before setting out, the track-car drivers had failed to agree in advance on their movements within the occupied zone. Furthermore poor visibility as a result of a curve in the railway and a rock cutting also contributed to the occurrence of the accident.

In order to prevent corresponding accidents in the future, the Accident Investigation Board of Finland recommends that in track-car drivers’ training and education programmes special emphasis be laid on the regulations and instructions concerning running on such an occupied train dispatching section where there are several track machines working simultaneously.

Recommendation S137