Better understanding needed of the risks involved in reversing trains

The Safety In­ves­ti­ga­tion Au­thor­ity, Fin­land has com­pleted its in­ves­ti­ga­tion into the col­li­sion of two goods trains in Tam­pere on 20 Sep­tem­ber 2023. No per­sonal in­juries or en­vi­ron­men­tal dam­age was caused by the ac­ci­dent.

The accident involved two goods trains colliding with each other in the Viinikka marshalling yard in Tampere after a traffic control mistakenly authorised the reversing of one of the trains, believing that it would fit onto an unoccupied section of track. The train turned out to be longer than the unoccupied section of track, as a result of which it collided with the side of the other goods train at the points.

‘The driver of the reversing train was unable to see the rear of the train and consequently had no way of knowing that the last wagons had overrun the limit of the movement authority. The investigation revealed that there are currently no technological systems that would safeguard against these kinds of human errors in the context of reversing manoeuvres. We also discovered that the current guidelines for reversing trains are not fully supportive of safety and are in need of updating,’ says Investigator-in-Charge Lasse Laatta.

‘Raising the standard of railway safety requires all rail network operators to learn to look at safety not only from their own perspective but also from the perspective of the whole system,’ Laatta adds.

The Safety Investigation Authority has decided to issue four recommendations based on the investigation, which are designed to increase safety in the context of reversing trains. The recommendations are to be implemented by the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency, the Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency and Fintraffic Railway Ltd.