The train that derailed and went up into flames in Czechia on 28 February was going twice the speed limit. It was transporting benzene, a highly flammable and toxic substance. How the speed violation happened is not yet known, but the repercussions of the incident are becoming increasingly clear.
The speed limit at the site of the crash was 40 kilometres per hour. Investigators say that the train was going more than twice as fast as it drove over a switch: almost 95 kilometers per hour.
Likely as a result of the high speed, the wagons decoupled from the locomotive, derailed and caught on fire. The locomotive and train driver got away unharmed.
“The investigation is only at the beginning and in no case can the fault of the train driver be established based on the findings of the Railway Inspection, as a technical defect in the locomotive or the train has not yet been ruled out,” an investigator told Czech media.
Soil contamination
Nevertheless, there are already ideas on how the accident could have been prevented. “This is an opportunity to promote faster equipping of tracks with ETCS trackside control”, said executive director of the Žesnad rail freight association Oldřich Sládek earlier. “If it had been on this section of track, the accident probably would not have happened,” he concludes.
The train was transporting 17 wagons with 1020 tonnes of benzene. Firefighters managed to capture 360 tonnes of it, write Czech media. Some of the benzene also remained in two undamaged tankers, the rest was pumped away. Yet another part of the benzene spilled into the soil beneath the tracks.
Complicated cleanup
As a result, the cleanup of the area becomes more complicated. It will now require excavations, which could last two years. Furthermore, the regional firefighting department says that 180 metres of rail tracks need to be removed to allow heavy equipment on the scene.
“SŽ [Czech railway administration] workers are cutting the tracks in approximately ten-metre sections with a welding kit, and then a crane will remove them from the track. In total, we have to cut about 180 metres of tracks along the incident site. Our goal is to gradually create space for the movement of heavy equipment and for handling wreckage. The work will gradually continue, as some wagons have been overturned directly on the track superstructure”, the firefighting department said.
