Posted on 05/21/2004 1:54:23 PM PDT by areafiftyone
MADRID, May 21 (Reuters) - Two trains crashed in central Spain on Friday, injuring 20 people and disrupting rail services between Madrid and the northwestern region of Galicia, officials said.
Several carriages were derailed and six of the injured were taken to hospital in a serious condition, Spain's 112 emergency service said.
Railways officials said one train was in a station when the other hit it head-on. State railway company Renfe was investigating the cause of the collision, which took place in the province of Zamora, northwest of Madrid.
Firemen tackled flames from two carriages and the engine of one train, emergency services said.
Some 200 passengers were evacuated by road while trains from Madrid to Galicia were rerouted to avoid the scene.
ALSO FROM REUTERS
TWO TRAINS COLLIDE IN AMSTERDAM, 16 INJURED
AMSTERDAM, May 21 (Reuters) - An Intercity train collided with a nearly empty train near Amsterdam's central station on Friday evening, injuring 16 on board, a Dutch Railways spokesman said.
A Reuters journalist on the scene said the mangled front carriage of one of the trains was resting on top of the locomotive of the other train after the accident.
A spokesman for Dutch Railways, which operates the train system in the Netherlands, said two passengers were seriously injured. One passenger was still trapped inside, according to local news agency ANP.
But both drivers had escaped serious injury, the railways spokesman said.
"One driver ran towards the back of the train when he realised what was happening. The other driver injured his finger," he said.
Several ambulances and rescue helicopters were at the crash site and emergency crews were still inside one of the trains.
The cause of the collision was not immediately clear. Amsterdam's central station has been recently undergoing renovations, with some tracks taken out of commission.
The spokesman said the train carrying the passengers was heading to the western city of Haarlem. Train traffic to and from the Dutch capital has been suspended.
Me too.
Another in Texas TODAY??
No they couldn't. Just like they couldn't take down an electrical grid and darken half a continent.
Now, move along...quickly, quickly....
We have been discussing this on this thread
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1139620/posts?q=1&&page=51
1 Dead, 4 Hurt in Texas Train Collision The Associated Press
GUNTER, Texas - Transportation officials worked Thursday to determine why two freight trains collided head-on, killing an engineer and injuring four other crew members in a fiery wreck that left cars scattered across the tracks.
A major rail line north of Dallas remained closed. U.S. Department of Transportation officials were on the scene early Thursday along with National Transportation Safety Board investigators, and railroad officials were also en route to the rural crash site about 50 miles north of Dallas.
More than 20 rail cars lay in accordion fashion on the tracks after the trains collided about 6 p.m. Wednesday.
At least one of the locomotives burned and flames spread to grass and other nearby vegetation. The engineer who died, who was on the southbound train, was found about 50 feet from the wreckage. Names of the dead and injured were not immediately released.
One of the injured men suffered severe burns and was taken by medical helicopter to a Dallas hospital, said Texas Department of Public Safety Trooper Rebecca Uresti. The other three injured crew members were in stable condition at Wilson N. Jones Medical Center in Sherman, said hospital spokeswoman Karis Schirmer.
Joe Faust, a spokesman for Fort Worth-based Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp., said both trains belonged to the company.
Rail cars on one of the trains were empty, while the other train was hauling rocks, the Grayson County sheriff's department said. No one was evacuated, but a hazardous materials crew was called to clean up spilled diesel fuel.
The collision is the second this month in Texas. On May 3, two freight trains collided on a Union Pacific track just south of downtown San Antonio, injuring three people, derailing some cars and spilling about 5,600 gallons of diesel fuel into the San Antonio River.
| Dulles Evacuated |
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| Posted by johnfrink On 05/21/2004 4:26:01 PM CDT KGW news ^ | May 21, 2004 Part of concourse "C" at Dulles Airport in our nation's capitol has been evacuated because of a suspicious item. |
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This one in Gunter Texas happened on Wednesday.
Surely there is not another today. Please check it out
There is a tendency to think that a train engineer's job is easy. Just hit the brakes on a yellow, flashing yellow or red signal, and open the throttle on a green. It's not like that at all. An engineer has to factor in the speed for a block, the signal status, the length and weight of his train, the grade he's traversing, and the slack between his cars. It's hard work, made harder by the long hours and the tendency of the sound and vibration of the locomotive to lull you to sleep.
A nasty accident in suburban L.A. happened when a freight engineer couldn't see a red block signal because of the glare of the setting sun on his windshield. That's why he plowed into a commuter train.
Each of the collision accidents sounds like an operator who blew past a red signal somewhere.
The new Spain is different, sounds like. Usually they repair cars on site or drag them off to the yard for scrap.
Well, I hope you're right.
http://www.geocities.com/transit383/wrecks3.html
Various causes including human errors, some causes not shown.
While that is very encouraging, this one shows something bad that can happen:
July 7, 1982 Fair Lawn CR Conrail/ NJDOT train bound for Hoboken was switched onto a siding at track speed by VANDALS. The train crashed into Zerega Brothers Pasta Factory. Comet I cars 1512, 1768, 1809 damaged. 1 Fatality
Just a coinidence lately? Probably. But 22 years ago trains could be caused to crash by vandalism.
I see there were 2 Train wrecks in NJ in 1996, Like 2 in Texas in 2004?(so far) So 2 in a year for a state has happened.
I wonder how many as of late have been head on collisions.
But we do know.."Wireless transmitters found hidden under Philadelphia railroad tracks"
*snippet* May 20, 2004 -- The Big Story on Action News is word of suspicious activity along train tracks in our area, and the discovery of a wireless transmitter that seemed to be carefully hidden in the gravel under some tracks in Philadelphia. Needless to say, this has attracted some peoples' attention. While authorities do not want to unnecessarily scare commuters, they say that after terrorist train attacks in Madrid Spain, they are taking all suspicious activity on rail lines seriously. Of most concern is the discovery of that wireless transmitter on a SEPTA rail line....(http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1139620/posts)
Isolated incident? I hope so. Time will tell.
It would be encouraging to see less train wrecks as the weeks go by and our election approaches.
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