Harmelen train disaster

Last updated
Harmelen train disaster
Overzicht van de ravage, Bestanddeelnr 913-3801.jpg
Aftermath of the disaster
Netherlands location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Details
Date8 January 1962
Location Harmelen, Utrecht
Coordinates 52°06′17″N4°57′23″E / 52.10472°N 4.95639°E / 52.10472; 4.95639
CountryNetherlands
Operator Nederlandse Spoorwegen
Incident typeHead-on collision
Cause Signal passed at danger
Statistics
Trains2
Passengers~1080
Deaths93

The Harmelen train disaster, on 8 January 1962, was the worst railway accident in the history of the Netherlands. Harmelen, in the central Netherlands, is the location of a railway junction where a branch to Amsterdam leaves the Rotterdam to Utrecht line. It is common at high-speed junctions to avoid the use of diamond crossings wherever possible instead a ladder crossing is employed where trains destined for the branch line cross over to the track normally employed for trains travelling in the opposite direction for a short distance before taking the branch line.

Contents

The accident happened 18 months after the Woerden train accident, the derailment of a British furlough train nearby. Previously the Weesp train disaster of 1918 had been the worst railway disaster in the Netherlands.

Collision

Shortly before 9.20 a.m. on Monday, 8 January 1962, a foggy day, a Rotterdam to Amsterdam local-train consisting of electric multiple unit Mat '46  [ nl ] sets 700 and 297 was authorised to carry out this manoeuvre, protected by a red signal to stop trains approaching from Utrecht. The EMU was travelling at approximately 75 km/h (47 mph). Simultaneously, an express train from Leeuwarden to Rotterdam, hauled by electric locomotive 1131, was approaching at 107 km/h (67 mph).

Perhaps because of the foggy weather, the driver of the train from Utrecht missed the warning yellow signal and applied the emergency brake when he saw the red signal protecting the junction, far too late to prevent a near head-on collision between the two trains. Six coaches of the Amsterdam train and three on the express train were destroyed.

Victims

Both trains were heavily packed 180 occupants in the six-carriage multiple units and circa 900 aboard the 11-carriage express train, made up of seven recent vehicles and five old Mat '24 trailers. [1] Of approximately 1080 people aboard the trains, 93 lost their lives, including the drivers of both trains.

Aftermath

Harmelen fly-over.jpg
The current flyover, near the site of the accident

The collision spurred the installation on Dutch railways of the system of automatic train protection known as Automatische treinbeïnvloeding (ATB), which automatically overrides the driver in such a "signal passed at danger" situation.

The junction was later rebuilt as a flying junction in the 1990s.

Memorial

Memorial to victims of the Harmelen train disaster Monument treinramp Harmelen.jpg
Memorial to victims of the Harmelen train disaster

On 8 January 2012 Pieter van Vollenhoven unveiled a memorial for the victims of the disaster, which on that day, had taken place exactly fifty years ago. The organization of the disclosure was owned by the local "Dorpsplatform" Harmelen.

The monument was designed by Taeke Friso de Jong  [ nl ], an artist from Kamerik. The mason was Maurice van Dam from Woerden. The design consists of two stone slabs that are tilted relative to each other and contain the names of the 93 victims. Looking through the two slabs discloses the actual spot where the collision happened. A red stone plinth, bearing a body that represents the victims, is placed in the middle in front of the two slabs. Three names on the slabs were spelled incorrectly; the names are copied from contemporary handwritten police reports. The mistakes have since been corrected. [2]

Similar accidents

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Woerden</span> City and Municipality in Utrecht, Netherlands

Woerden is a city and a municipality in central Netherlands. Due to its central location between Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, and Utrecht, and the fact that it has rail and road connections to those cities, it is a popular town for commuters who work in those cities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harmelen</span> Town in Utrecht, Netherlands

Harmelen is a town in the Dutch province of Utrecht. It is a part of the municipality of Woerden, and lies about 6 km east of Woerden.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oude Rijn (Utrecht and South Holland)</span> River in Netherlands

The Oude Rijn is a branch of the Rhine delta in the Dutch provinces of Utrecht and South Holland, starting west of Utrecht, at Harmelen, and running by a mechanical pumping station into the North Sea at Katwijk. Its present-day length is 52 kilometres.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Utrecht Centraal railway station</span> Railway station in the Netherlands

Utrecht Centraal, officially Station Utrecht Centraal, is the transit hub that integrates three bicycle parkings, two bus stations, two tram stops and the central railway station for Utrecht, Netherlands. It is the biggest train station in the Netherlands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rail transport in the Netherlands</span>

Rail transport in the Netherlands uses a dense railway network which connects nearly all major towns and cities. There are as many train stations as there are municipalities in the Netherlands. The network totals 3,223 route km (2,003 mi) on 6,830 kilometres (4,240 mi) of track; a line may run both ways, or two lines may run on major routes. Three-quarters of the lines have been electrified.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of rail transport in the Netherlands</span>

The history of rail transport in the Netherlands is generally considered to have begun on September 20, 1839, when the first train, drawn by De Arend, successfully made the 16 km (9.9 mi) trip from Amsterdam to Haarlem. However, the first plan for a railroad in the Netherlands was launched only shortly after the first railroad opened in Britain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Woerden railway station</span>

Woerden railway station is the railway station of Woerden, Netherlands. The railway station was opened on 21 May 1855 on the Utrecht–Rotterdam railway. In 1911 a new building was built in Jugendstil. During 1993-1996 the railway station was modernised, replacing the wooden roof and stairways by modern ones, while maintaining the Jugendstil building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Breukelen railway station</span>

Breukelen is a railway station located in Breukelen, Netherlands. The station was opened on 18 December 1843 and is on the Amsterdam–Arnhem railway. It is also the northern end of the Harmelen–Breukelen railway. A new station was opened in 2002 nearer the A2 motorway and further from the town. For this the junction with the line to Harmelen and Woerden also moved.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rotterdam Alexander station</span> Railway station in Rotterdam, Netherlands

Rotterdam Alexander is a combined metro and railway station in Rotterdam, Netherlands. It is located on the Utrecht–Rotterdam railway. It is named after Prins Alexander borough, and therefore indirectly after Alexander, Prince of Orange. Near the station is shopping mall Alexandrium situated.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rotterdam Noord railway station</span>

Rotterdam Noord is a railway station in the city of Rotterdam in the Netherlands, located on the Utrecht–Rotterdam railway. It sits at the border between the two Rotterdam boroughs Noord and Hillegersberg-Schiebroek.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Schiedam Centrum station</span>

Schiedam Centrum is a railway station and metro station in Schiedam, just to the west of Rotterdam, Netherlands, on the railway line between The Hague and Rotterdam Centraal. Train services are operated by Nederlandse Spoorwegen, and metro, tram and bus services are operated by Rotterdamse Elektrische Tram.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sprinter Lighttrain</span> Dutch electric multiple unit

The Sprinter Lighttrain or SLT is an Electric Multiple Unit (EMU) train type operated by the Nederlandse Spoorwegen in the Netherlands. They were built from 2007 to 2012 by Bombardier (2400) and Siemens (2600). It is the successor of the Sprinter SGM train type.

The Halle train collision was a collision between two NMBS/SNCB passenger trains carrying a combined 250 to 300 people in Buizingen, in the municipality of Halle, Flemish Brabant, Belgium, on 15 February 2010. The accident occurred in snowy conditions at 08:28 CET (07:28 UTC), during rush hour, on railway line 96 (Brussels–Quévy) about 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) from Brussels between P-train E3678 from Leuven to Braine-le-Comte and IC-train E1707 from Quiévrain to Liège. A third train was able to come to a stop just in time. The collision killed 19 people and injured 171, making it the deadliest rail accident in Belgium in over fifty years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Werkspoor</span> Machine manufacturer in the Netherlands

Werkspoor N.V. was the shortened, and later the official name of the Nederlandsche Fabriek van Werktuigen en Spoorwegmaterieel. It was a Dutch machine factory, known for rolling stock, (ship) steam engines, and diesel engines. It was a successor of the company Van Vlissingen en Dudok van Heel, later named Koninklijke Fabriek van Stoom- en andere Werktuigen. In 1954 Werkspoor was merged with Stork.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Weesp train disaster</span> 1918 train disaster near Weesp, Netherlands

The Weesp train disaster took place on 13 September 1918 near Weesp, Netherlands. With 41 deaths and 42 injuries, it was the largest train disaster in Dutch railway history until the 1962 Harmelen train disaster.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1856 Schiedam train accident</span>

On 10 August, 1856 two passenger trains collided at the Amsterdam–Haarlem–Rotterdam railway near Delfshaven between Schiedam Centrum station and Rotterdam Centraal station, the Netherlands. Two carriages where destroyed with a third being severely damaged. Three passengers lost their lives and at least nine were injured.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amsterdam Westerpark train collision</span> 2012 train crash in the Netherlands

On 21 April 2012 at 18:30 local time, two trains were involved in a head-on collision at Westerpark, near Sloterdijk, in the west of Amsterdam, Netherlands. Approximately 117 people were injured, one of whom later died in hospital. The collision is thought to have been caused by the driver of one of the trains passing a red signal.

The 1874 Warmond train accident was a train collision between a passenger train and a freight train at the Amsterdam–Haarlem–Rotterdam railway near Warmond railway station between Leiden and Warmond, in the Netherlands on 14 August 1874. A passenger and one of the drivers were killed, and over 30 passengers were injured. The wife of the train driver died of shock after hearing her husband was killed.

References

  1. "Seinarm, de site voor de Nederlandse modelspoorder. > Staal > Plan E". www.seinarm.nl. Retrieved 2021-07-19.
  2. "Spelfouten op monument". Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2012-01-17.

Further reading