The Suonenjoki rail collision occurred on 12 August 1998, when a VR

InterCity InterCity (commonly abbreviated ''IC'' on timetables and tickets) is the classification applied to certain long-distance passenger train services in Europe. Such trains (in contrast to regional, local, or commuter trains) generally call at m ...

train arriving from the north and a VR

freight train Rail freight transport is the use of railroads and trains to transport cargo as opposed to human passengers. A freight train, cargo train, or goods train is a group of freight cars (US) or goods wagons (International Union of Railways) haul ...

arriving from the south collided south of the

Suonenjoki Suonenjoki (; literally means "vein's river") is a town and municipality of Finland. It is located in the Northern Savonia region, southwest of the Kuopio city. The town has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The popu ...

railway station in Finland. 26 people were injured, one of them seriously. The rear end of the locomotive of the freight train was pushed high up in the air on top of its first car.

Chronology of events

VR's InterCity No. 72, ''en route'' from

Iisalmi Iisalmi (; sv, Idensalmi) is a town and municipality in the region of Northern Savonia in Finland. It is located north of Kuopio and south of Kajaani. The municipality has a population of (), which makes it the second largest of the five towns ...

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

via

Kouvola Kouvola () is a cities of Finland, city and Municipalities of Finland, municipality in southeastern Finland. It is located along the Kymijoki, Kymijoki River in the Regions of Finland, region of Kymenlaakso, kilometers east of Lahti, west of Lapp ...

, was scheduled to pass VR freight train 2051 in Airaksela, north of

, with the freight train waiting on the

passing loop A passing loop (UK usage) or passing siding (North America) (also called a crossing loop, crossing place, refuge loop or, colloquially, a hole) is a place on a single line railway or tramway, often located at or near a station, where trains or ...

and the InterCity using the main line. However, on the day of the accident the freight train was running 30 minutes late. The train dispatcher was planning to make the pass at Suonenjoki railway station, which would delay the departure of the InterCity by three minutes. A route was secured for the InterCity to Suonenjoki railway station, where it was signaled to stop and wait for the freight train to pass. However, before the freight train could arrive at Suonenjoki, the InterCity left the station on schedule at 5:57:01, missing the red "stop" aspect of the

signal In signal processing, a signal is a function that conveys information about a phenomenon. Any quantity that can vary over space or time can be used as a signal to share messages between observers. The ''IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing'' ...

. Upon noticing the approaching train the drivers of both trains activated the emergency brakes and, when the collision seemed inevitable, jumped off the trains. The dispatcher noticed that the main track was occupied by the wrong train and immediately started calling both trains on radio. No answer was heard, however, as the drivers had already jumped out. The trains collided. Due to the high velocity of the passenger train – – and the large mass of the freight train, running at ) on impact, the collision was violent. The whole InterCity train moved back and the first two cars of the freight train were pushed under its locomotive. This forced the rear end of the locomotive to rise high up in the air and touch the

overhead lines An overhead line or overhead wire is an electrical cable that is used to transmit electrical energy to electric locomotives, trolleybuses or trams. It is known variously as: * Overhead catenary * Overhead contact system (OCS) * Overhead equipmen ...

. The cars luckily remained on the tracks, which were running on a high embankment.

Causes

The accident was caused by the InterCity driver ignoring the ''stop'' aspect of the main signal. The driver heard the conductor's "ready" bell signal and concentrated on leaving the station. A signal repeater was possibly malfunctioning. Other contributing factors were the bright daylight that prevented the driver from clearly seeing the red signal, and the general "obsession" among InterCity drivers to obey the timetable by the second.

Aftermath

The accident, coupled with the

Jyväskylä rail accident The Jyväskylä rail accident occurred on 6 March 1998 in Jyväskylä, Finland, when the Sr1-driven express train P105 from Turku bound for Joensuu via Pieksämäki derailed. The train left the tracks after coming in too fast on a switch near the ...

, showed the importance of the

automatic train control Automatic train control (ATC) is a general class of train protection systems for railways that involves a speed control mechanism in response to external inputs. For example, a system could effect an emergency brake application if the driver do ...

system, which was installed on all major lines during the following years, and was later expanded to cover all passenger lines and all goods-only lines with the exception of lines which see only a maximum of few trains a day. The two locomotives, Sr1 units 3042 (freight train) and 3031 (InterCity) were refurbished and returned to service. As the result of this accident and the expansion of automatic train control, signal repeaters were removed from all stations except the Helsinki Central railway station.

References

;Literature *

External links

Accident Investigation Boards' report
{{coord, 62, 36, 56, N, 27, 7, 30, E, type:event_region:FI, display=title Railway accidents in 1998 Railway accidents and incidents in Finland

Railway accidents involving a signal passed at danger Accidents and incidents involving VR Group

Chronology of events

Causes

Aftermath

See also

References

External links