Death toll mounts after trains crash

Belgian authorities are saying that at least ten people are confirmed as dead after two commuter trains crashed into each other at Buizingen, near Halle, ten miles south of Brussels. Horrific images of mangled train bodywork, pantographs and overhead line equipment dominated TV news bulletins this morning.

Emergency services are still believed to be removing people from the wreckage (15.30 GMT). Eurostar services between Brussels and London's St Pancras International and high speed Paris-Brussels connections have been cancelled. 

Delays are likely to occur for several days as accident investigators examine and recover evidence. Only then can the trains and wreckage be cleared and work begun to repair and replace the damaged track and overhead lines. 

It's worth noting that the Rail Safety and Standards Board’s Overview of safety performance for 2009, published on 2 February, contained evidence of “further improvements in safety on Britain’s railways during last year”, highlighting that the risk of passengers or rail staff dying in train accidents had dropped by over 80% during the last decade. In 2009, there were no passengers or rail staff killed in train accidents in Britain - the fourth year in the last five with no such fatalities. Rail is regarded across Europe as far safer than road travel.

The accident occurs at a time when the British government is putting the final touches to its plans to effectively extend the European high speed rail network to the Midlands, North and to Scotland with High Speed 2. A White Paper is expected next month. High Speed 1 already connects St. Pancras International with Paris and Brussels. 

Top photo: Thierry Roge, Reuters
Left: Map of European high speed rail network displayed at Ebbsfleet International station in north Kent.


Paul Coleman, London, February 2010.

From Russia with love

Shaken and angry, hundreds of exhausted Eurostar passengers finally arrived at London's St Pancras International station after being stuck in the Channel Tunnel for over eight hours last Friday (18 December).

Shaky and humiliated, Eurostar's chief executive Richard Brown faced the TV cameras trying to blame French melting ice and snow for electrical breakdowns on five trains on route from Paris. Brown couldn't, or maybe wouldn't, explain why Eurostar's 'winterisation procedures' brought in after similar past breakdowns had failed to prevent this latest spate of failures. 

Eurostar might have further explaining to do if Russia's new 'blizzard-tested' high speed trains - the 250kph (155mph) Velaro RUS, built by Siemens - start running between Moscow and St. Petersburg without suffering any winter breakdowns. 

The Russian rail company RZD calls these trains, the Sapsan, which means peregrine falcon. RZD is confident the Velaro RUS can run in Russia's harsh weather conditions. Moscow thermometers currently show the temperature at a bone-chilling -11˚C.


One possible long-term consequence of Eurostar's failures is that Eurostar could face competition to run high speed passenger services through the Channel Tunnel from other European operators. A new European Union law in force from December 13 means alternative train companies must be allowed to bid for open access operation on the continent's rail networks. Who knows, maybe a Deutsche Bahn train or a Russian Sapsan might glide into St Pancras International one fine but freezing day.

Photo shows a Velaro undergoing severe cold climate testing.
(Image courtesy of Siemens Press Pictures).

Paul Coleman, London, December 2009