C13/​1998R A Chem­i­cals car­ry­ing wagon de­rail­ing at Helsinki West Har­bour on Sep­tem­ber 5, 1998

05.09.1998

On Saturday, 5 September 1998, a loaded freight train operating as a shunting work unit was being transferred from Ilmala to Helsinki West Harbour. The train was running at a permissible speed. After the level crossing in Mechelininkatu, there was in the travelling direction of the train, a track crossing joining the adjacent tracks, and thereafter a curve turning to the right and finally a turnout. When the train was travelling on the curve the rails spread under the train, and as a result in the travelling direction of the rear bogie of the fourth wagon, the right-hand wheels slipped over to the left side of the rail. When the derailed bogie arrived at the next turnout, the left-hand wheels of the bogie raised and slipped over to the left side of the rail. As the turnout was locked to the right, the front bogie of the fourth wagon travelled to the right and the rear bogie travelled inthe direction of the left-turning rail on the left side of the track. The fourth wagon having turned on its side travelled along with the train and its centre bumped into a light pole located between the tracks. The light pole broke and fell over the wagon towards Laivapojankatu. Also the empty intermediate wagons in front of and behind the fourth wagon derailed. The train driver noticed the accident when he perceived the discharging of the brake conduit.

The wagon in question was loaded with two lead tetraethyl carrying containers for liquids. The support structures of the containers were slightly damaged by the broken light pole. The lead tetraethyl did not leak from the containers. About 100 m of track was damaged and the turnout suffered some damage, as well. Nobody was injured in the accident.

There were three central causes of the accident:

• The bogie pivot of the derailed Russian wagon was rough and unlubricated, and therefore the bogie tended to refuse turning in the curve, thus contributing to the spreading of the rails.
• The K43 rails were fixed by means of spikes; this fixing method in fact makes the rails spread more easily than a screw-fixing method.
• The rails in the turnout were fixed with screws, ensuring thus a more rigid construction. In the turnout the left wheels of the bogie having spread the track, raised over the rail, which again made the bogie take the direction of the wrong track.