Two trains collide in Switzerland

[whole diary]

[stuving]

First reports are coming in of a collision between two trains in a single track line in Switzerland, at Grange-pr^s-Marnand (Vaud). Little detail so far, estimates of 40 injured and no deaths but a warning that may not last.

[stuving]

Swiss reports are giving an initial explanation: the two trains should have passed in the station where there are two tracks, but one set off too early. 
http://www.rts.ch/info/regions/vaud/5099738-une-collision-de-trains-a-fait-35-blesses-dans-la-broye-vaudoise.html
(Note that some pictures show another track alongside: this is a siding.)

[JayMac]

From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

Swiss train crash: Dozens hurt in Granges-pres-Marnand



At least 35 people have been injured, five of them seriously, in a collision between two trains in western Switzerland.

The crash happened in Granges-pres-Marnand in Vaud canton, about 50km (30 miles) south-west of the capital, Bern.

The regional trains collided head-on in the early evening.

The driver of one of the trains was still unaccounted for and thought to be inside the wreckage, police spokesman Jean-Christophe Sauterel said.

"These are regional trains. The speeds are a little lower and even if one deeply regrets the likely loss of life of one person as well as five serious injuries, the situation could have been much more catastrophic," he said.

The most seriously injured were taken to hospital by helicopter or ambulance. Others were treated at the scene.

One of the trains involved was bound for Lausanne, about 38km to the south, while the other was travelling north from the same city, AFP news agency reports.

Traffic was interrupted on a stretch of the line which links the cities of Palezieux and Payerne, the Swiss federal railway company said.

Investigators are at the scene to try to determine the cause of the crash.

Switzerland's rail system is considered among the best and safest in the world.

Earlier this month, 79 people were killed in a high-speed derailment in north-western Spain.

[stuving]

I find the extent of damage to one of these carriages quite a shock. I can't find a comparative picture of the other carriages in this train, but it looks as if half its length has been squashed to almost nothing. (Picture from RTS.ch)

[stuving]

This report (http://www.rts.ch/info/regions/vaud/5100665-collision-dans-la-broye-la-these-du-non-respect-de-la-signalisation-privilegiee-
par-la-police.html) already gives an almost complete description of what happened (if not an explanation).

A three-car Lausanne S-bahn train S21 from Payerne to Lausanne stopped at the station (Granges-pr^s-Marnand).
A two-car regional train from Lausanne to Payerne was due to pass it without stopping.
(The accident was reported at 19:44, but the RE^▸ (Religious Education) is timetabled at 18:44 - S21s run at both times).

The S21 left too soon, against the signal which is reported as working, and must have crossed trailing points against it.
The driver stopped just past these points and evacuated the front of carriage 1 (though another police statement said it was moving at 40 km/hr).
The RE struck the stationary S21 at up to 100 km/hr, its first carriage was compressed by 8 m, and its driver killed.
The possibility of passengers being found in the front of this carriage has not yet been excluded.

This line has the lowest of 4 levels of protection described as "Integra".
If this is Integra-Signum, which appears  to intervene after a SPAD^▸ (Signal Passed At Danger), nothing else, it still should have applied the brakes here. If the signal is close to the platform end it is surprising the train got so far - 280 m by my reckoning.