Railway accident in Halle (Belgium)

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In the railway accident in Halle on February 15, 2010 at 8:28 a.m. south of Brussels , between Halle and Buizingen in Belgium , two regional trains collided head-on in the morning commuter traffic. 19 people died.

Starting position

The 75.5 km long, double- track Brussels – Quévy line runs 14 km south of Brussels-South (Midi) station through Halle station . In front of it is the Buizingen plant in a district of Halle. The automatic train control system installed here triggered an emergency brake (only) when a train passed a signal indicating a “stop”.

Three trains were en route here:

  • The first train was a regional train and drove from Leuven (Leuven) to Braine-le-Comte , coming from the Buizingen operating point southwards.
  • The second train drove from Quiévrain to Liège , i.e. in a northerly direction.
  • A third train was using the parallel track and was not involved in the accident.

About 250 to 300 passengers traveled on the two affected trains . The view was bad. It was snowing heavily. Due to the weather, the timetable also got mixed up. The regional train from Leuven was about ten minutes late .

the accident

The train driver of the regional train from Leuven overlooked a red stop signal . He himself claims to have recognized a green signal that is “moving”. The emergency braking triggered when the signal indicating "Halt" was passed was no longer sufficient to prevent the train from entering the track on which the train was approaching from the opposite direction. There was a head-on collision. The locomotives and the first wagons pushed into and over each other.

consequences

Immediate consequences

19 people were killed in the accident and 171 others were injured, 35 of them seriously.

The seriously injured were taken to nearby hospitals by the fire brigade , the slightly injured were treated in a nearby sports center in Halle and given psychological support. A crisis center and an emergency number for relatives have been set up. The Red Cross also called for blood donations .

Further consequences

The accident investigation report recommended introducing an improved train protection system within a decade. Belgium then accelerated the installation of the train control system TBL 1+ , which triggers an automatic braking as soon as a train approaches a signal indicating "stop" at too high a speed.

The subsequent criminal proceedings took almost 10 years to complete. All of the accused, the railway infrastructure operator Infrabel , the railway company SNCB and the train driver who ran over the signal, were found guilty. The two railway companies were sentenced to a fine of 550,000 euros each. The engine driver, who was also found guilty - the court assumed that he had run over a red signal showing "stop" - went unpunished. According to the judgment of the court, he is the last link in the security chain with the slightest guilt.

Worth knowing

The railway accident in Rüsselsheim in 1990 was based on a comparable constellation.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Screams, blood and rubble: "A nightmare!" In: 20 minutes . February 15, 2010, accessed March 27, 2020 .
  2. ↑ a b vos: After ten years .
  3. ↑ Human error resulted in a fatal train accident . Report on evangelisch.de from February 16, 2010

Coordinates: 50 ° 44 ′ 42 "  N , 4 ° 15 ′ 6"  E