Jokela rail accident

Jokela rail accident
Date 21 April 1996
Time 07:08 (EEST)
Location Jokela, Tuusula
50 km (31 mi) N from Helsinki
Coordinates 60°33′16″N 024°58′02″E / 60.55444°N 24.96722°E / 60.55444; 24.96722Coordinates: 60°33′16″N 024°58′02″E / 60.55444°N 24.96722°E / 60.55444; 24.96722
Country Finland
Rail line Helsinki–Riihimäki railway
Operator VR Group
Type of incident Derailment
Cause Excessive speed
Statistics
Trains 1
Passengers 139
Deaths 4
Injuries 75
Route map
Legend
  To Tampere 
 Hyvinkää
 Palopuro
 Takoja
 ↓ Direction of train P82

Crash site
 Jokela
 Nuppulinna
  To Helsinki 
Fog at the accident site one hour and a half after the derailment.

The Jokela rail accident occurred on 21 April 1996, at 07:08 local time (04:08 UTC) in Tuusula, Finland, approximately 50 kilometres (30 mi) north of Helsinki. Four people were killed and 75 injured when express train P82 from Oulu, bound for Helsinki, derailed in heavy fog. The overnight sleeper train was carrying 139 passengers and five crew members. The engine overturned and eight of the twelve carriages derailed. The official investigation into the accident revealed that the accident was due to overspeeding through a slow-speed turnout.[1]

It is estimated that the total cost of the accident was over FIM 26 million (€4.3 million).[1][2]

Causes

Railway maintenance work was going on near Jokela railway station, and the usual southbound track was out of service. Because of heavy fog and high speed, the driver was unable to see the distant signal that warned about a divergent routing with a turnout speed limit of 35 kilometres per hour (22 mph) ahead. The visibility was a few dozen metres. Before the accident, drivers of passing trains had reported that the visibility of signals was very low. Moreover, the printed notice about the track diversion, the so-called weekly warning, was confusingly written.[1]

When arriving at the home signal, the train was still running at 133 kilometres per hour (83 mph), having missed the distant signal imposing a limit of 35 kilometres per hour (22 mph). Upon noticing the signal, the driver made an emergency brake application but could only decrease the speed to 124 kilometres per hour (77 mph) before the train entered the turnout. During the journey, the driver had slightly oversped a number of times to maintain the schedule.[1]

Aftermath

The Accident Investigation Board produced 18 recommendations, which included improvements over railway signalling, better seat fixing, improvements on communication and accelerated building of the automatic train control system.[1] However, the Jyväskylä rail accident happened only two years later, showing that more improvements were necessary.[3]

Similar accidents

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "A1/1996R Train accident at Jokela, on April 21, 1996" (in Finnish and English abstract). Accident Investigation Board of Finland. Retrieved 2 November 2010.
  2. ↑ "Elävä Arkisto: Jokelan junaturma" [The Living Archive: Jokela train accident] (in Finnish). YLE. 15 February 2007. Retrieved 2 November 2010.
  3. ↑ Tommi Rinnemaa (22 April 2004). "Älykäs rautahepo ei vikuroi" (in Finnish). Tekniikka ja talous. Retrieved 30 October 2010.
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