The Tiefencastel derailment occurred near the

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

Tiefencastel Tiefencastel ( rm, Casti) is a village and a former municipality in the district of Albula in the canton of Graubünden in Switzerland. On 1 January 2015 the former municipalities of Alvaschein, Mon, Stierva, Tiefencastel, Alvaneu, Brienz/Brin ...

, 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 CEST or cest may refer to: * Central European Summer Time (UTC+2), daylight saving time observed in the central European time zone * Cognitive-Experiential Self-Theory * Chemical Exchange Saturation Transfer, a subset of Magnetization transfer in ...

(10:30 UTC) on 13 August 2014, a Rhaetian Railway passenger train on the Albula Railway was struck by a landslide and derailed. The train was travelling from

St. Moritz St. Moritz (also german: Sankt Moritz, rm, , it, San Maurizio, french: Saint-Moritz) is a high Alpine resort town in the Engadine in Switzerland, at an elevation of about above sea level. It is Upper Engadine's major town and a municipality in ...

to . Of the seven-coach train, one carriage was left almost at right angles to the track down an embankment, and two others were derailed. Trees prevented the carriage from ending up in the Albula. Eleven people were injured, five seriously, and one of the seriously injured, an 85 year old man, later died. There were 140 passengers on the train. Two of the injured were Japanese and one was an Australian. The other eight victims were Swiss. 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. The train was hauled by Ge 4/4 III-class locomotive No. 651. Four helicopters and eight ambulances assisted in the rescue operations. All the passengers had been evacuated within three hours of the accident. They were taken to by bus to continue their journey by train. 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. The railway reopened on 16 August. On that date, six people remained in hospital with injuries described as "non life threatening".

Investigation

The

Swiss Accident Investigation Board The Swiss Transportation Safety Investigation Board (STSB, german: Schweizerische Sicherheitsuntersuchungsstelle; french: Service suisse d'enquête de securité; it, Servizio d'inchiesta svizzero sulla sicurezza) is a government agency of Swit ...

has opened an investigation into the accident. A separate investigation was opened by the Canton of Graubünden.

Similar accidents

Other instances of trains actually being struck by falling rocks and being derailed include - *1 January 1883 - At Vriog (now Friog),

Merionethshire , HQ= Dolgellau , Government= Merionethshire County Council (1889-1974) , Origin= , Status= , Start= 1284 , End= , Code= MER , CodeName= ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, the locomotive of a

Cambrian Railways The Cambrian Railways owned of track over a large area of mid Wales. The system was an amalgamation of a number of railways that were incorporated in 1864, 1865 and 1904. The Cambrian connected with two larger railways with connections to the ...

passenger train was struck by falling rocks and pushed into the

Irish Sea The Irish Sea or , gv, Y Keayn Yernagh, sco, Erse Sie, gd, Muir Èireann , Ulster-Scots: ''Airish Sea'', cy, Môr Iwerddon . is an extensive body of water that separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is linked to the Ce ...

. Both engine crew were killed. The first carriage was derailed, but there were no injuries amongst the passengers. *4 March 1933 - Also at Vriog, the locomotive of a

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran ...

passenger train ran into falling rocks and was pushed into the Irish Sea. Both engine crew were killed. *8 February 2014 - At

Annot Annot (; oc, Anòt) is a commune in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. The inhabitants of the commune are known as ''Annotains'' or ''Annotaines'' The commune has been awar ...

Alpes-de-Haute-Provence Alpes-de-Haute-Provence or sometimes abbreviated as AHP (; oc, Aups d'Auta Provença; ) is a department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of France, bordering Alpes-Maritimes and Italy to the east, Var to the south, Vaucluse to the west ...

, France, a passenger train of the Chemins de Fer de Provence was struck by a landslide and derailed. Two people were killed and twenty were injured.

References

{{coord missing, Switzerland 2014 in Switzerland Derailments in Switzerland Railway accidents in 2014 Grisons Rhaetian Railway August 2014 events in Switzerland 2014 disasters in Switzerland