Faulty switch was to blame for derailment with fatal consequences in Bern
Published: Wednesday, Jul 17th 2024, 14:10
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The train derailment at the Bern-Weyermannshaus freight station last December with fatal consequences was caused by a faulty switch. This was revealed in the investigation report published on Wednesday.
An SBB shunting supervisor had been riding on the running board of a freight wagon during the accident, was trapped under the tilted wagon after the derailment and suffered fatal injuries.
According to the investigation report, the accident victim had previously driven past a "Stop" sign, whereupon another SBB employee tried to prevent a collision by manually setting the points.
The axles of the freight wagon were subsequently directed onto different tracks. The first wagon was pushed at right angles to the direction of travel and overturned. This is according to the final report of the Swiss Transportation Safety Investigation Board (Sust).
According to the report, the evaluated data suggests that the accident victim was expecting an unhindered journey to the destination track. Sust was unable to determine why he did not react to the signal position.
The accident occurred in the early morning of December 28, 2023. According to the Bern cantonal police, the deceased was a 22-year-old from the canton of Bern.
©Keystone/SDA
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