'%20id='ico-down'%20stroke='%23000000'%20stroke-width='1.5'%3e%3cg%20transform='translate(1092.250000,%20254.750000)'%3e%3cpolyline%20id='Path-2-Copy-4'%20transform='translate(5.500000,%202.750000)%20scale(1,%20-1)%20rotate(-180.000000)%20translate(-5.500000,%20-2.750000)%20'%20points='0%200%205.5%205.5%2011%200'%3e%3c/polyline%3e%3c/g%3e%3c/g%3e%3c/g%3e%3c/svg%3e){kind=small}
30 September 2004
AMSTERDAM — Between 30 and 35 people were injured when an intercity train collided with a freight train at the Roosendaal station shortly before 6pm on Thursday.
Some of the injured victims suffered broken bones and head wounds, but most people were only slightly hurt, police and rail network authority ProRail said.
The driver of the freight train was among the injured, but the driver of the intercity was unhurt.
The station was transformed into a scene of chaos after the accident and police sealed the area off, RTL Nieuws reported.
An estimated 400 people were travelling on the Amsterdam-Vlissingen intercity when it collided front-on with a shunting Belgian freight train.
The intercity was just leaving the station when the accident occurred and a ProRail spokesman said it was not travelling very fast.
Train traffic to and from Roosendaal was shut down after the accident. Consequently, no international trains are running between the Netherlands and Belgium.
Staff of the Transport and Public Works Inspectorate was dispatched to the scene of the accident on Thursday night. The Transport Safety Council will also conduct an investigation, news agency ANP reported.
The accident is similar to a collision at Amsterdam Central Station on 21 May this year.
In that accident, 20 people were injured when an intercity and a shunting double-decker train collided. Two of the injured victims had to be cut free from the wreckage.
The Dutch Transport Safety Council said on 27 May after initial inquiries that the Amsterdam accident was likely caused by the double-decker train travelling through a red light. The Transport and Public Works Inspectorate confirmed that finding in July.
The safety council also said its ongoing inquiry would investigate the automatic train warning system (ATB). The system is controversial because it is years old and currently does not stop a train if it is travelling below 40kmh when it runs a red light.
Transport Minister Karla Peijs has promised to invest EUR 40 million into upgrading and improving the ATB railway safety system.
[Copyright Expatica News 2004]
Subject: Dutch news