Swiss passenger train derailment.

[swisstrains]

Yesterday afternoon (12/02/08) the leading coach of a passenger train derailed whilst travelling over the important Gotthard route between Biasca and Airolo. The train involved was a Locarno to Zürich Interregio service consisting of 11 coaches hauled by an Re460 electric loco. Fortunately there were no injuries to passengers or rail staff.

Some photos from the "20 Minuten" Newspaper.

http://www.20min.ch/diashow/16690/07643569.jpg
A general view showing the Locarno-Zürich train hauled by an SBB Re460 electric loco with the diesel-hauled "fire and rescue" train on the extreme left.
http://www.20min.ch/diashow/16690/07643648.jpg
Members of the "fire and rescue" team "evacuating" one of the less able bodied passengers from the train........I wonder what his wife is saying?
http://www.20min.ch/diashow/16690/07643568.jpg
The Re460 electric loco and the derailed first class coach.
http://www.20min.ch/diashow/16690/07643593.jpg
Another shot of the derailed coach. The derailment occurred at a location where the line is climbing through a series of spirals and the same line can be seen higher up the valley side on the viaduct in the top right-hand corner of this photo. The concrete bridge is the Gotthard motorway.
Needless to say the Swiss Transport Department have started an inquiry but it looks like the train was in the process of crossing over from the northbound track to the southbound track when the derailment occurred. Most lines in Switzerland are signalled for reversible working and it is quite common for a train to be switched to overtake another or if a track is closed for engineering work.
The coach was rerailed, the track repaired and the line re-opened this morning (13/02/08) The route is a main artery between Germany and Italy and carries several hundred freight trains a day in addition to the passenger services.

[swisstrains]

I have since read that a second derailment, also involving a passenger train, took place at exactly the same spot less than three weeks later. Despite being replaced after the first derailment the points had once again become worn enough to cause the second derailment. The cause is thought to be inadequate lubrication of the track and the points have now been taken out of service pending further investigation.
Can you imagine the fun the British press would have had with a story like this?

[swisstrains]

Contrary to my last post the "Railway Update" magazine reports that the points were not replaced after the first derailment because they were not damaged.
Investigations have shown that both derailments occurred while trains were changing tracks after restarting from signal stops and on both occasions the track was inadequately lubricated. Apparently the wheels of trains travelling at low speed whilst under acceleration are more prone to climbing up the outside rail on curves than trains travelling at high speed. This climbing effect is made worse when the sides of the rails are dry and inadequately lubricated.
It is thought that the inadequate lubrication could be caused by the increasing number of German locos being used over this route. German locos used in Switzerland do have flange lubricators but their software is not programmed to deposit as much lubricant onto the rails as a Swiss loco. The Swiss are now looking into making a higher level of flange lubrication one of the preconditions for a foreign loco's use in Switzerland