C4/​1998R Group of Wag­ons pushed by a shunt­ing en­gine bumbs into the side of a freight train at Kou­vola, on Feb­ru­ary 28, 1998

28.02.1998

Saturday night, on 28 February 1998, a long group of wagons pushed by a shunting locomotive on Kouvola railway yard bumped into the side of a leaving freight train. Some wagons and some load of the freight train were damaged, and the two end wagons of the group being shunted were damaged, and while travelling along the damaged wagons of the freight train removed a shunting signal on the way. The accident was not discovered in the freight train which pursued its travelling. The accident had no impact on traffic operation and nobody was injured. The resulting financial loss amounted to a total of FIM 41 000.

The accident was generated by the real length of the group of wagons shunted being unknown and the viewing in the direction of the pushing movement being incompleted; as a result the shunting unit pushed over to the track where the freight train was travelling.

In order to avoid such situations in the future, Accident Investigation Board Finland underscores that in shunting work where wagons are being pushed, the viewing shall always be carried out until the end of the shunting movements.