On 29 July 2013, two passenger trains were involved in a head-on collision at Granges-près-Marnand, Switzerland, killing one person and injuring 25 others.

Accident

At 18:50 CEST (16:50

UTC Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) is the primary time standard globally used to regulate clocks and time. It establishes a reference for the current time, forming the basis for civil time and time zones. UTC facilitates international communica ...

), two passenger trains were involved in a head-on collision at

Granges-près-Marnand Granges-près-Marnand is a former municipality in the district of Broye-Vully in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland. The municipalities of Cerniaz, Combremont-le-Grand, Combremont-le-Petit, Granges-près-Marnand, Marnand, Sassel, Seigneux and V ...

Vaud Vaud ( ; , ), more formally Canton of Vaud, is one of the Cantons of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of Subdivisions of the canton of Vaud, ten districts; its capital city is Lausanne. Its coat ...

, Switzerland, on the Palézieux–

Payerne Payerne (; ) is a municipality in the Swiss canton of Vaud. It was the seat of the district of Payerne, and is now part of the district of Broye-Vully. The German name ''Peterlingen'' for the town is out of use. History The earliest traces of ...

line. Initially, it was reported that up to 44 people were injured, five seriously. This was later revised to 25 injured. The 24-year-old driver of the train heading to Granges-près-Marnand was killed in the crash: His body was recovered in the early hours of 30 July. The injured were taken to hospitals in

Lausanne Lausanne ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, city of the Swiss French-speaking Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud, in Switzerland. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway bet ...

and

. All but three of the injured had been discharged from hospital by 30 July. Both of the trains were operated by

Swiss Federal Railways Swiss Federal Railways (, SBB; , CFF; , FFS) is the national railway company of Switzerland. The company was founded in 1902 and is headquartered in Bern. It used to be a State-owned enterprise, government institution, but since 1999 it has be ...

Disruption

As a result of the accident, train services were suspended between Moudon and Payerne. A bus replacement service was provided. The line was scheduled to be reopened in the afternoon of 30 July.

Investigation

At the time, the

Swiss Accident Investigation Board The Swiss Transportation Safety Investigation Board (STSB, ; ; ) is a government agency of Switzerland. It investigates civil aviation accidents and incidents and cableway, roadway, waterway, and railway accidents. The head office is in Bern. T ...

(SAIB) were responsible for investigating railway accidents in Switzerland. The wrecked trains were moved to

Yverdon Yverdon-les-Bains () (called Eburodunum and Ebredunum during the Ancient Rome, Roman era) is a municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Jura-North Vaudois District, Jura-Nord vaudois of the canton of Vaud in Switzerland. It ...

where they were examined by the investigators.

Cause

Initial reports indicated that the local train at Grange-près-Marnand station did not wait for the arrival of the incoming train from Payerne and left the station too soon. The SAIB final report shows that the accident was caused by train 12976 departing from Granges-près-Marnard against a red signal.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Granges-pres-Marnand train crash Railway accidents in 2013 Train collisions in Switzerland 2013 in Switzerland Transport in the canton of Vaud Railway accidents involving a signal passed at danger July 2013 in Europe 2013 disasters in Switzerland

Accident

Disruption

Investigation

Cause

See also

References