Tiefencastel derailment

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Tiefencastel derailment
Photograph of the derailed carriages.
The derailed carriages.
Details
Date13 August 2014
12:30 CEST
LocationTiefencastel, Graubünden
CountrySwitzerland
LineAlbula Railway
OperatorRhaetian Railway
Incident typeDerailment
CauseLandslide struck train
Statistics
Trains1
Passengers140[citation needed]
Deaths1
Injured10 (4 serious)[citation needed]

The Tiefencastel derailment occurred near the municipality of Tiefencastel, Switzerland, on 13 August 2014 when a passenger train travelling on the Albula Railway was struck by a landslide and derailed. Ten people were injured, four seriously, and 1 person died.

Accident[]

The train was hauled by this Ge 4-4 locomotive.

At 12:30 CEST (10:30 UTC) on 13 August 2014,[1] a Rhaetian Railway passenger train on the Albula Railway was struck by a landslide and derailed. The train was travelling from St. Moritz to Chur.[2] Of the seven-coach train, one carriage was left almost at right angles to the track down an embankment, and two others were derailed.[3][4] Trees prevented the carriage from ending up in the Albula.[2] Eleven people were injured, five seriously, and one of the seriously injured, an 85 year old man, later died.[5][6] There were 140 passengers on the train. Two of the injured were Japanese and one was an Australian.[7] The other eight victims were Swiss.[8] In one of the derailed carriages, passengers moved to one side of the carriage in a bid to prevent it from plunging into a ravine.[9] The train was hauled by Ge 4/4 III-class locomotive No. 651.[2]

Four helicopters and eight ambulances assisted in the rescue operations. All the passengers had been evacuated within three hours of the accident.[2] They were taken to Chur by bus to continue their journey by train.[7] In a twelve-hour period before the accident, rainfall was recorded at a 50-60 litres per square metre, about half the average rainfall for the month of August in the area, according to a statement by MeteoSwiss.[2] The railway reopened on 16 August. On that date, six people remained in hospital with injuries described as "non life threatening".[4]

Investigation[]

The Swiss Accident Investigation Board has opened an investigation into the accident.[1] A separate investigation was opened by the Canton of Graubünden.[4][needs update]

Similar accidents[]

Other instances of trains actually being struck by falling rocks and being derailed include -

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b "Entgleisung" [Derailment] (in German). Swiss Accident Investigation Board. Archived from the original on 14 August 2014. Retrieved 14 August 2014.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e "Un ange gardien était du voyage dans le train" [A guardian angel was watching the journey of the train]. 20 Minuten (in French). Archived from the original on 14 August 2014. Retrieved 13 August 2014.
  3. ^ "Zware treincrash in Zwitserland" [Severe train crash in Switzerland] (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 14 August 2014. Retrieved 13 August 2014.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b c "Train route back on track after accident". swissinfo. 16 August 2014. Archived from the original on 14 August 2014. Retrieved 18 August 2014.
  5. ^ S, Max (1 June 2021). "Punched by the Earth: The 2014 Tiefencastel Landslide Derailment". Medium. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
  6. ^ agencies, swissinfo ch and. "Passenger dies after rail accident". SWI swissinfo.ch. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
  7. ^ Jump up to: a b Raven, David; Roberts, Gareth. "Swiss train crash: Live updates as railway boss hails guardian angel after 200 passengers escape alive". Trinity Mirror. Archived from the original on 14 August 2014. Retrieved 13 August 2014.
  8. ^ "Schweizer, Japaner und ein Australier sind verletzt" [Swiss, Japanese and an Australian are injured]. 20 Minuten (in German). 13 August 2014. Retrieved 14 August 2014.
  9. ^ "Swiss train derailed in landslide". BBC News. Archived from the original on 14 August 2014. Retrieved 13 August 2013.
  10. ^ Jump up to: a b Hoole, Ken (1983). Trains in Trouble. 4. Redruth: Atlantic Books. p. 24. ISBN 0-906899-07-9.
  11. ^ "Report on the Accident at Vriog Cutting on 4th March 1933". Railways Archive. Retrieved 12 September 2020.

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