Following a train collision in northern Slovakia on June 3, 74 passengers got injured. (source: Facebook - ZSSK)
After Friday’s collision of a push-pull train and a regional train near Vrútky, Žilina Region, the national railway carrier, ZSSK, will inspect the connecting technology the firm uses.
The ZSSK general manager Roman Koreň have also ordered train drivers and train-service crew members to resit a emergency-situation communication test, the SITA newswire wrote. The test may also be retaken by employees working for Železnice Slovenskej republiky, a state-owned firm managing railway infrastructure across Slovakia.
Ahead of the weekend, rail transport in the area of the Friday collision was immediately suspended for several hours before one of the tracks was allowed to be put into use again at 21:42. Train traffic was completely resumed in the small hours on June 4.
Several dozen passengers ended up in hospitals.
How the crash happened
Explaining the collision in more detail, the ZSSK said that a train driver on Regional Train 3429 reported a pantograph failure at 17:56 on June 3 to a dispatcher in Vrútky, using his private mobile phone, as a result of which the train could not move any further and remained stuck on the railroad between Žilina and Liptovský Mikuláš.
“This railroad is double-tracked and if a train gets stuck in the direction of travel, other trains can run on the second track in both directions,” said the ZSSK’s spokesperson Tomáš Kováč.
The push-pull train was sent out from Vrútky to take the stranded train but instead ended up colliding with it. “The crash occurred at 18:40,” Kováč added. The reasons why the crash happened are under investigation.
The material damage caused by the accident is estimated at €2 million, the police said.
Old and heavy locomotives
In an interview with the Sme daily, former ZSSK head Pavol Kravec said that the impact speed of the trains that collided on Friday is unknown at this point. “Even though it seems that the push-pull train was running slowly, we need to realise that it weighs around 80 tonnes.” He added that these trains can be as old as 50 years, noting that some train drivers have said that the trains do not brake very well when driving solo.
Moreover, the tracks might have been wet. The experience of the train driver who drove the push-pull train in question is also unclear. “Many times, there are train drivers at stations who passed exams, but they start to gain their first professional experience at station reserves,” the former ZSSK head explained.
The police in the Žilina Region have launched an investigation involving the crime of endangerment.
