C7/2004R Incident between Kempele and Liminka, caused by an escaping railsleeper wagon on 15 June, 2004

On Thursday morning June 15, 2004, an incident occurred between Liminka and Kempele when an empty open wagon of a track work team escaped to a railway line toward Liminka and toward a meeting passenger train. The wagon had been left standing on a siding at Kempele railway yard, while a service railcar was being moved to the other end of the siding, and then suddenly the wagon set out to travel by itself. The driver of the service railcar then advised the remote con-trol operator of the escape of the wagon, and the remote control operator ordered the approach-ing passenger train to stop. The engine driver immediately stopped the train. The distance be-tween the train and the railcar was then eight kilometres. The incident caused no personal injury, rolling stock damage or any damage to the track or the equipment. The passenger train ran late by 16 minutes.

The incident was a result of a failing securing of the immobility of the wagon that then escaped onto the railway line. The immobility of the wagon had in fact been secured by an air brake as its idle time was only to be very short. But the brake shoe having taken an inappropriate position, turned and the brakes disconnected. The inappropriate position of the brake shoe was only dis-covered after the wagon had escaped and it had been fetched back again. As contributing to the escaping of the wagon to the railway line was the fact that Kempele railway yard inclines toward the railway line.

The Accident Investigation Board of Finland does not publish any relevant new recommenda-tions, as the investigation report as such underscores the importance of the securing of the im-mobility of railway cars.

C7/2004R Report (pdf, 0.3 Mt)