The Szczekociny rail crash occurred on 3 March 2012 when two passenger trains collided head-on near the town of
Szczekociny,
Silesian Voivodeship
Silesian Voivodeship, or Silesia Province ( pl, województwo śląskie ) is a voivodeship, or province, in southern Poland, centered on the historic region known as Upper Silesia ('), with Katowice serving as its capital.
Despite the Silesian V ...
, Poland.
Sixteen people died in the incident and 58 were injured.
An investigative report showed that the cause of the crash was due to human error by train dispatchers and the train drivers.
Incident
At around 20:55
CET
CET or cet may refer to:
Places
* Cet, Albania
* Cet, standard astronomical abbreviation for the constellation Cetus
* Colchester Town railway station (National Rail code CET), in Colchester, England
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Comcast En ...
on 3 March 2012, two passenger trains (totalling approximately 350 passengers in 10 carriages
) collided at
Chałupki near the Silesian Voivodship town of Szczekociny.
One train, the TLK 31101 ''Brzechwa'' operated by
PKP Intercity, was travelling north from
Przemyśl to
Warsaw
Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...
; the other was the
InterRegio 13126 ''Matejko'' operated by
Przewozy Regionalne, travelling south from Warsaw to
Kraków
Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...
at .
At the time, scheduled engineering works were underway on the track at Szczekociny railway station.
A spokesman from
Polish State Railways
(''PKP S.A.''; en, Polish State Railways, Inc.) is the dominant Rail transport operations, railway operator in Poland.
The company was founded when the former state-owned enterprise was divided into several units based on the need for separati ...
said that as a result of this, the Kraków-bound train was "on the wrong track". The InterRegio train was hauled by
Class ET22 locomotive 1105,
and the Intercity by
Class EP09-035.
Because of the collision, one carriage of the northbound Warsaw train
telescoped, and other carriages
derailed.
One eyewitness described carriages colliding like a
concertina
A concertina is a free-reed musical instrument, like the various accordions and the harmonica. It consists of expanding and contracting bellows, with buttons (or keys) usually on both ends, unlike accordion buttons, which are on the front.
The ...
.
One third of the EP09-035 engine room, along with both cabins, was completely destroyed. Locomotive ET22-1105 had one cabin (the front one) destroyed and rotated 180° as a result of collision.
Casualties
Officials announced that the incident resulted in 16 fatalities and 58 injuries.
There were two foreigners among fatalities: an American woman,
and a Russian national.
On 6 March 2012, Polish newspaper ''
Gazeta Wyborcza
''Gazeta Wyborcza'' (; ''The Electoral Gazette'' in English) is a Polish daily newspaper based in Warsaw, Poland. It is the first Polish daily newspaper after the era of " real socialism" and one of Poland's newspapers of record, covering the ...
'' reported that the drivers of both trains and a number of train staff died in the incident.
Six
Ukrainians
Ukrainians ( uk, Українці, Ukraintsi, ) are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine. They are the seventh-largest nation in Europe. The native language of the Ukrainians is Ukrainian. The majority of Ukrainians are Eastern Ort ...
, one
Moldovan and one
Czech
Czech may refer to:
* Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe
** Czech language
** Czechs, the people of the area
** Czech culture
** Czech cuisine
* One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus'
Places
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were among the injured.
Szymon Nowak, a doctor in a nearby hospital, stated that a number of the casualties were in a serious condition; some were in medically induced comas.
The casualties were reported as having a variety of injuries including broken arms and legs,
pelvic
The pelvis (plural pelves or pelvises) is the lower part of the trunk, between the abdomen and the thighs (sometimes also called pelvic region), together with its embedded skeleton (sometimes also called bony pelvis, or pelvic skeleton).
The p ...
and
spinal fracture
A spinal fracture, also called a vertebral fracture or a broken back, is a fracture affecting the vertebrae of the spinal column. Most types of spinal fracture confer a significant risk of spinal cord injury. After the immediate trauma, there i ...
s, as well as facial and internal injuries. One 29-year-old female casualty had a leg
amputated
Amputation is the removal of a limb by trauma, medical illness, or surgery. As a surgical measure, it is used to control pain or a disease process in the affected limb, such as malignancy or gangrene. In some cases, it is carried out on indiv ...
.
The rescue operation involved approximately 450 firemen and 120 police officers.
35 ambulances and 2
air ambulance
Air medical services is a comprehensive term covering the use of air transportation, aeroplane or helicopter, to move patients to and from healthcare facilities and accident scenes. Personnel provide comprehensive prehospital and emergency and cri ...
s took casualties to a number of hospitals, including those in
Piekary Śląskie
Piekary Śląskie () (german: Deutsch Piekar; szl, Piekary) is a city in Silesia in southern Poland, near Katowice. The north district of the Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union – metropolis with the population of 2 million. Located in the Silesia ...
,
Myszków
Myszków is a town in Poland, with 31,650 inhabitants (2019). Situated on the Warta river in the Silesian Voivodeship (since 1999), previously in Częstochowa Voivodeship (1975–1998), it is the capital of Myszków County. Myszków historically ...
,
Częstochowa,
Zawiercie
Zawiercie is a city in the south of Poland located in the Silesian Voivodeship with 49,334 inhabitants (2019). It is situated in the Kraków-Częstochowa Upland near the source of the Warta River. The town lies near the historical region of Sile ...
,
Katowice,
Sosnowiec,
Dąbrowa Górnicza
Dąbrowa Górnicza is a city in Zagłębie Dąbrowskie, southern Poland, near Katowice and Sosnowiec. It is located in eastern part of the Silesian Voivodeship, on the Czarna Przemsza and Biała Przemsza rivers (tributaries of the Vistula River, ...
and
Bytom.
As of 8 March 2012, 39 people remained in hospital.
Of these, 4 remained in
intensive care
Intensive care medicine, also called critical care medicine, is a medical specialty that deals with seriously or critically ill patients who have, are at risk of, or are recovering from conditions that may be life-threatening. It includes pro ...
.
Investigation
On 4 March 2012, Polish prosecutors opened an investigation into the incident.
The following day, the
Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. ne ...
reported that one prosecutor, Tomasz Ozimek, was seeking to press charges against a railroad traffic controller. Ozimek alleges that the controller's error resulted in one of the trains moving onto the wrong track.
It was announced at a press conference in
Częstochowa that two people were detained, without charge, including the controller, who is in
psychiatric care suffering from
shock
Shock may refer to:
Common uses Collective noun
*Shock, a historic commercial term for a group of 60, see English numerals#Special names
* Stook, or shock of grain, stacked sheaves
Healthcare
* Shock (circulatory), circulatory medical emergen ...
.
The second person, a female dispatcher, was released on 6 March without charge.
By 8 March, the line reopened after reconstruction work.
Polskie Radio
Polskie Radio Spółka Akcyjna (PR S.A.; English: Polish Radio) is Poland's national public-service radio broadcasting organization owned by the State Treasury of Poland.
History
Polskie Radio was founded on 18 August 1925 and began making ...
reported that
PKP acknowledged prior knowledge of faulty
points on the line.
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* TVN (Australian TV channel), a former horse racing channel
* Televisión Nacional de Chile, a public broadcaster
* TVN (Indonesia), a former television station; predecessor of Rajawali Televisi
* TVN (Norway), or TVNorge, a comm ...
, one of Polish TV networks, has published information that the points and signals on the line had been faulty 65 times between 30 November 2011 (the day the line was put back in use after modernization) and the day of the crash.
The investigation revealed that a series of mistakes caused the collision:
* The day before the crash, the dispatcher in Starzyny sent another train on the wrong track. The investigation team (PKBWK) should have been notified and the dispatcher relieved of his duties, but the national
rail infrastructure manager,
PKP PLK
PKP Polskie Linie Kolejowe S.A. is the Polish railway infrastructure manager, responsible for maintenance of rail tracks, conducting the trains across the country, scheduling train timetables, and management of railway land.
The company was found ...
, did neither of these
[Raport Nr PKBWK/01/2013 (in Polish)](_blank)
/ref>
* On the day of the crash, a switch in Starzyny had malfunctioned and the train dispatcher (the same who sent the train on the wrong track the day before) had used a subsidiary signal, sending the southbound train (''IR'' 13126 ''Matejko'') on a wrong track, without informing the driver with ''rozkaz pisemny'' about the cause of subsidiary signal
* Train dispatcher in Starzyny did not observe the train and informed dispatcher in Sprowa that the train was on the correct track
* The interREGIO driver did not stop the train after entering the wrong track, as he should do because the subsidiary signal did not have additional W24 sign underneath
* As interREGIO has entered the wrong track, the signalling in Sprowa has informed train dispatcher about the fact that the track is occupied, but because of Starzyny' dispatcher giving wrong information, she presumed that the signalling has malfunctioned and used subsidiary signal too, sending northbound ''TLK ''31100 ''Brzechwa'' on correct but occupied track
* The TLK driver also did not stop the train after passing the signal, as he should do because the subsidiary signal did have additional W24 sign underneath.
The official report was issued on 15 February 2013.
Reactions
The President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
* President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
, Bronislaw Komorowski, declared two days of mourning beginning on Monday 5 March. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk
Donald Franciszek Tusk ( , ; born 22 April 1957) is a Polish politician who was President of the European Council from 2014 to 2019. He served as the 14th Prime Minister of Poland from 2007 to 2014 and was a co-founder and leader of the Civic ...
said that the incident was " oland'smost tragic train disaster in many, many years", referring to the 1990 Ursus accident, and that it was too soon to speculate what caused the Szczekociny collision. Tusk added that human error
Human error refers to something having been done that was " not intended by the actor; not desired by a set of rules or an external observer; or that led the task or system outside its acceptable limits".Senders, J.W. and Moray, N.P. (1991) Human ...
could not be excluded from the lines of enquiry.
Slawomir Nowak, the Minister of Transport, insisted that Polish rail travel was safe and that safety is a priority. He added that people planning to travel on the Polish railway system during Euro 2012
The 2012 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2012 or simply Euro 2012, was the 14th European Championship for men's national football teams organised by UEFA. The final tournament, held between 8 June and 1 ...
need not worry, stating that he believes that "the train system – not only in Poland but all of Europe – is still very safe".
Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the soverei ...
wrote to Archbishop Józef Michalik expressing condolences, stating that it was "with pain e receivedthe news of the train crash". He gave all casualties of the incident his "apostolic blessing" and said that he was praying for the victims and their families.
German Chancellor
The chancellor of Germany, officially the federal chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany,; often shortened to ''Bundeskanzler''/''Bundeskanzlerin'', / is the head of the federal government of Germany and the commander in chief of the Ge ...
Angela Merkel
Angela Dorothea Merkel (; ; born 17 July 1954) is a German former politician and scientist who served as Chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021. A member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), she previously served as Leader of the Opp ...
and Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle
Guido Westerwelle (; 27 December 1961 – 18 March 2016) was a German politician who served as Foreign Minister in the second cabinet of Chancellor Angela Merkel and Vice-Chancellor of Germany from 2009 to 2011, being the first openly gay person ...
also sent Tusk and the victims' families their condolences. President of Slovakia
The president of the Slovak Republic ( sk, Prezident Slovenskej republiky) is the head of state of Slovakia and the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces. The president is directly elected by the people for five years, and can be elected for ...
Ivan Gašparovič
Ivan Gašparovič (; born 27 March 1941) is a Slovak politician and lawyer who was third president of Slovakia from 2004 to 2014. He was also the first and currently the only Slovak president to be re-elected.
Biography
Ivan Gašparovič was ...
– along with Prime Minister Iveta Radičová and Foreign Minister Mikuláš Dzurinda
Mikuláš Dzurinda (; born 4 February 1956) is a Slovak politician who was the prime minister of Slovakia from 30 October 1998 to 4 July 2006. He is the founder and leader of the Slovak Democratic Coalition (SDK) and then the Slovak Democratic a ...
– gave their sympathy to the families and relatives of the incident's victims. Prime Minister of the Czech Republic Petr Nečas
Petr Nečas (; born 19 November 1964) is a Czech former politician who served as the prime minister of the Czech Republic and leader of the Civic Democratic Party from 2010 to 2013, and as Member of the Chamber of Deputies (MP) from 1993 to 2013 ...
wrote to "express isgrief over every human life that has perished in the disaster". Andrius Kubilius
Andrius Kubilius (born 8 December 1956) is a Lithuanian politician who has been serving as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) since 2019. He served as Prime Minister of Lithuania from 1999 to 2000 and again from 2008 to 2012.LR Vyriausio ...
, the Prime Minister of Lithuania
The prime minister of Lithuania ( lt, Ministras Pirmininkas; "Minister-Chairman") is the head of the government of Lithuania. The prime minister is Lithuania's head of government and is appointed by the president with the assent of the Lithuani ...
, wished Poland "the strength required in those moments of grief and mourning". Prime Minister of Hungary
The prime minister of Hungary ( hu, Magyarország miniszterelnöke) is the head of government of Hungary. The prime minister and the Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Parliament, to their political part ...
Viktor Orbán
Viktor Mihály Orbán (; born 31 May 1963) is a Hungarian politician who has served as prime minister of Hungary since 2010, previously holding the office from 1998 to 2002. He has presided over Fidesz since 1993, with a brief break between ...
wrote to Tusk to reassure him that the "Hungarian people are joining heirPolish friends in mourning". Boyko Borisov, the Prime Minister of Bulgaria, sent his "most sincere condolences to the families and relatives of the victims", stating that the Bulgarian people "join hem
A hem in sewing is a garment finishing method, where the edge of a piece of cloth is folded and sewn to prevent unravelling of the fabric and to adjust the length of the piece in garments, such as at the end of the sleeve or the bottom of the g ...
in pain". The Prime Minister of Singapore
The prime minister of Singapore is the head of government of the Republic of Singapore. The president appoints the prime minister, a Member of Parliament (MP) who in their opinion, is most likely to command the confidence of the majority of ...
Lee Hsien Loong
Lee Hsien Loong (; born 10 February 1952) is a Singaporean politician and former brigadier-general who has been serving as Prime Minister of Singapore and Secretary-General of the People's Action Party since 2004. He has been the Member of Par ...
wrote a letter to Tusk, expressing his "deepest condolences to the people of Poland".
See also
*List of rail accidents (2010–2019)
This is a list of rail accidents which occurred between 2010 and 2019.
2010
* 2 January – ''India'' – In Uttar Pradesh near the town of Etawah, about southwest of Lucknow, the Lichchavi Express entering the station in heavy fog runs i ...
* List of Poland disasters by death toll
References
{{Authority control
2012 disasters in Poland
2012 in Poland
Articles containing video clips
History of Silesian Voivodeship
March 2012 events in Europe
Railway accidents in 2012
Train collisions in Poland
Zawiercie County