On 27 November 2017, a Belgian passenger train ran away during recovery operations following a collision at a level crossing. After 14 kilometres (8.7 mi), it collided with a stationary train at
Strépy-Bracquegnies, killing two and injuring seven. The accident was caused by a failed coupling.
Accidents
Level crossing
At 07:25
CET
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(06:25
UTC) on 27 November 2017, a passenger train collided with a car on a
level crossing
A level crossing is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road, Trail, path, or (in rare situations) airport runway, at the same level, as opposed to the railway line crossing over or under using an Overpass#Railway, overpass ...
at
Morlanwelz
Morlanwelz (; wa, Marlanwé) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium.
On 1 January 2006 Morlanwelz had a total population of 18,595. The total area is 20.26 km2 which gives a population density of 918 inhab ...
,
Hainaut, Belgium. A fire broke out, damaging the leading carriage of
Class AM96 electric multiple unit
An electric multiple unit or EMU is a multiple-unit train consisting of self-propelled carriages using electricity as the motive power. An EMU requires no separate locomotive, as electric traction motors are incorporated within one or a numbe ...
449, which formed the passenger train with unit 442. The driver of the car had managed to escape from the vehicle before it was hit by the train. There were no injuries on the train. The fire was quickly extinguished. A signal and of track were damaged in the accident.
Runaway and collision
During recovery operations at about 20:00,
the three carriages of unit 449 were detached from unit 442 train at
Piéton
The Piéton () is a northern tributary of the Sambre in the Belgian Province of Hainaut. Their confluence is in Charleroi
Charleroi ( , , ; wa, Tchålerwè ) is a city and a municipality of Wallonia, located in the province of Hainaut, Belg ...
.
La Louvière
La Louvière (; wa, El Lovire) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium.
The municipality consists of the following districts: Boussoit, Haine-Saint-Paul, Haine-Saint-Pierre, Houdeng-Aimeries, Hou ...
,Infrabel
Infrabel is a Belgian government-owned public limited company. It builds, owns, maintains and upgrades the Belgian railway network, makes its capacity available to railway operator companies, and handles train traffic control.
Infrabel was creat ...
employees who were repairing the track at Morlanwelz, from Piéton.[ Two were killed and two were seriously injured.][ The train continued to run away and then collided with another passenger train at Strépy-Bracquegnies at about 20:20,][ having passed through three stations and over five level crossings and travelling for .][ The second train involved was formed of two Class AM96 units, including unit 483.][
]
Aftermath
The railway was closed and a bus replacement service was put in place between and .[ The line was subsequently scheduled to remain closed between and Charleroi-South on 29 November.][ The line between and Charleroi-South reopened on 30 November, leaving the section between La Louvière-Sud and closed whilst repairs were made.]
Investigations
A research institution opened an investigation into the accidents.[ Investigations were also opened by SNCB, Infrabel and the ]Judiciary
The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...
.[
]
References
{{2017 railway accidents
2017 in Belgium
History of Hainaut
November 2017 events in Europe
Railway accidents in 2017
Railway accidents and incidents in Belgium
Runaway train disasters
La Louvière