Missed light caused crash

9 July 2005

THE HAGUE – Running a red light was the cause of the 11 February crash at Rotterdam Centraal between an intercity train and a local train, the Inspectie Verkeer en Waterstaat (IVW) announced on Tuesday.

The accident caused considerable material damage and severe delays for travellers. No one was injured.

Late last year another missed red light caused a crash near Roosendaal between an NS train and a goods train.

In May 2004 an empty double-decker train smashed head-on into an NS intercity train after it ran a red light outside Amsterdam Centraal.

Last year 353 trains ran red lights. The year before saw 315 such incidents.

The local train’s engineer did not see the light at Rotterdam Centraal.

The IVW said the ‘fragile’ schedule also played a role. The two trains’ departures are normally two minutes apart. A delay to the intercity meant they left at the same time that day. The local train was supposed to wait outside the station until the intercity had passed.

[Copyright Expatica News + ANP 2005]

Subject: Dutch news