C2/​2010R De­rail­ment of three cars in the Joen­suu rail­way yard, Fin­land on 24 March 2010

06.09.2011

On Tuesday, 24 March 2010, at 1:12pm, three unloaded Finnish freight train cars derailed in the Peltola section of the Joensuu railway yard. The derailment occurred when freight train 4719 left from Joensuu for Uimaharju on track 061 while two stop blocks had been left in place at the front wheel sets of the two rearmost wagons of the train. The front end of the train’s second wagon from the rear was derailed immediately when the train started moving. The train’s rearmost wagon and the rear end of the third wagon from the rear were derailed when the stop blocks became blocked in a turnout crossing. The switchman at the southern end of the railway yard heard the rumble emanating from the train and detected that the three rearmost wagons were not running on track. The switcher requested, via the railway yard radio, that the traffic controller stop the train, and the controller ordered the engine driver to stop the train.

The accident damaged track over a distance of 700 metres when the derailed wagons caused damage to the sleepers and electrical cables underground. Furthermore, four turnouts were damaged in the accident and also a electric pole of railways was damaged when a derailed wagon collided with it. The accident disturbed other railway traffic for four hours. The passenger trains were replaced with bus transport during the disturbance. The total cost of the accident was 10,000 €.

The cause of the accident was that stop blocks had been left on rail when the train started moving. The underlying cause of the accident was that the brake inspector was distracted by trying to locate his radio handset, which had fallen into a brake hose pit, and, consequently, forgot to remove the stop blocks from the right-hand rail.

The Accident Investigation Board is not issuing new safety recommendations because of this accident, since the Finnish Transport Safety Agency has set forth clear regulations for inspection of the traffic-worthiness of trains and for standard-form communications to be adhered to in all communication in railway operations.