R2015-03 Incident in train traffic in Hyvinkää, Finland, on 18 March 2015

On Wednesday 18 March 2015, a hazardous situation occurred in Hyvinkää, when a regional train en route from Riihimäki to Helsinki ran through a switch at excessively high speed.

The regional train (the R train) had departed the Riihimäki station at 2.52 p.m. About two kilometers before the Hyvinkää station, at 2.58 p.m., the train ran through a switch at a speed of 156 km/h. The maximum allowed speed over the switch was 80 km/h. The engine's ATP device had not been switched on. The incident did not cause significant personal injuries. One passenger travelling in the rear unit reported having fallen off the seat due to a strong lurch. Loose fluorescent tubes on the overhead rack fell on the floor and broke.

The direct cause of the incident was the train's speeding while running to a switch. The incident was a result of the engine driver forgetting to switch on the ATP engine device and not realising this at any point but driving the train trusting the ATP control system. The driver's concentration on the performance of his work was likely compromised due to his personal phone calls and messaging. The progress of the incident was facilitated by the engine driver being solely responsible for switching on the ATP device, and nothing in the cabin gave a clear warning to him of the system not being switched on. Furthermore, the progress of the incident was affected by the fact that the speed of the train is not limited while it is running without the ATP device.

In order to avoid accidents, the Safety Investigation Authority, Finland issues the following recommendations:

• The ATP engine device must always be switched on.

• Cabin equipment should give the engine driver a clear warning if the train's ATP engine device is not operating.

• If a train's ATP engine device is not switched on, the train's speed should be restricted to a maximum of 80 km/h.

• Clear instructions on the use of mobile devices by engine drivers while driving the train must be provided.

• The Finnish Transport Agency should include in the turnout inspection instructions the situations where a train has or is suspected to have been driven onto a switch guided to the diverging track at a speed that is clearly higher than allowed for the switch type in question.

• The Finnish Transport Safety Agency (Trafi) should demand that the subject matter of human factors will be emphasised more in both the safety management systems of railway operators and training in the field.

R2015-03 Report (pdf, 6.48 Mt)