[NO] Derailment between Bjerka and Mo i Rana 24/10/2024

[jamesontheroad]

Unfolding incident. Serious derailment. Minimum one fatality.

NRK (Norwegian public broadcaster) reports here: https://www.nrk.no/nordland/tog-spora-av-pa-nordlandsbanen-1.17096920? (one click translate with some browsers)

The train #471 was operated by SJ Nord, travelling northbound from Trondheim S (0749) to Bodø (1744). The train consisted of one diesel locomotive (a NSB Di 4?) and five carriages.

The train struck landslide south of Mo i Rana, derailed, and dropped down onto the edge of the E6 highway below.

 

[Gloster]

It looks like a Di.4 and is probably a write-off. One or two coaches (it is difficult to be sure from photos) at the front have gone down the embankment. Casualties reported as one railway employee dead, three passengers seriously injured and one treated at the scene.

 

[Richard Scott]

It looks like a Di.4 and is probably a write-off. One or two coaches (it is difficult to be sure from photos) at the front have gone down the embankment.

Reported to be Di4 653 with one coach down embankment. Bit sobering as saw that earlier in the year at Trondheim and covered the route albeit with a different loco.
Looks like stock held up well, know one fatality, which is obviously very sad but could have been worse.

 

[YorkshireBear]

Very sad indeed. Rockfall is mentioned elsewhere. Must be a big rockfall to cause that much damage.

 

[jamesontheroad]

SJ Nord have confirmed to media that it was their employee, the driver, who died.

 

[Gloster]

Very sad indeed. Rockfall is mentioned elsewhere. Must be a big rockfall to cause that much damage.

It does look like one very big lump.

 

[peteb]

This is very sad news.

The line runs through very remote scenic terrain. I understand SJ have very few diesel locos available/able to cover this route. If the boulder derailed the (massive) loco it's not hard to imagine the impact on a lightweight DMU which would be the obvious rail-based replacement service, unless bus substitution from now is inevitable?

 

[JonasB]

This is very sad news.

The line runs through very remote scenic terrain. I understand SJ have very few diesel locos available/able to cover this route. If the boulder derailed the (massive) loco it's not hard to imagine the impact on a lightweight DMU which would be the obvious rail-based replacement service, unless bus substitution from now is inevitable?

Norske tog has five Di4 in total, so it might be hard to avoid some kind substitution for the day trains. DMU or bus. But this will mean more problems for Nordlandsbanen until the new Stadler trains arrive.

 

[Richard Scott]

SJ Nord have confirmed to media that it was their employee, the driver, who died.

Did wonder if the unfortunate person was the driver.

 

[USRailFan]

Norske tog has five Di4 in total, so it might be hard to avoid some kind substitution for the day trains. DMU or bus. But this will mean more problems for Nordlandsbanen until the new Stadler trains arrive.

Currently, while the line is still blocked, the trains run Trondheim - Mosjøen using a Class 76 bimodal MU (Stadler Flirt). Night trains are cancelled altogether. Some trains run Bodø - Mo i Rana with Class 93 DMUs. Stock that is captive in Bodø is one Di4, one rake of B5 coaches, two sleeping coaches and two Class 93 DMUs.

 

[peteb]

Togtrafikk fremover på Nordlandsbanen - SJ Norge

Den tragiske avsporingen ved Bjerka torsdag 24.oktober har ført til endringer i togtrafikken på Nordlandsbanen. Togstrekningen mellom Mosjøen og Mo i Rana er stengt. Bane NOR kommer med ny prognose om gjenåpningen mandag 4. november kl. 15:00. OPPDATERING: FREDAG 1.NOVEMBER KL.1130 Vi anbefaler...

www.sj.no

The above link has details about future reopening decisions, and a tribute to the railway employee that sadly lost their life.

 

[YorkshireBear]

Road seems to reopen Monday which must be good news for locals as the diversions are long.

 

[Gloster]

Bane Nor say that the next update from them will be on Monday at 15.00 (local time).

 

[USRailFan]

Loco (and presumably the twp derailed carriages as well?) is planned to be removed tomorrow

 

[jamesontheroad]

Lots of problems in the Swedish mountains over the last few days, since one of the two diversionary routes for road traffic takes you east at Trofors on a secondary road towards Joesjö and Tärnaby in Sweden, from where the E12 takes you to Mo I Rana. This isn’t an easy road and there was 20-30cm of snow on Wednesday and Thursday. Some trucks - very likely vehicles from overseas without winter tyres or chains - got stuck. There have also been a couple of collisions.

SVT (Swedish public TV) reported on the consequences here (click to translate with some browsers): https://www.svt.se/nyheter/lokalt/v...-norge-skapar-problem-pa-vagar-i-vasterbotten

 

[USRailFan]

The salvaged diesel locomotive is not a pretty sight

 

[Gloster]

The line remains closed for the rest of the week. The next update is on 11 November at 15.00.

 

[USRailFan]

The highway will open tomorrow morning. The railway is still in need of a lot of work, including being secured against more rockfalls, and of course repair of the track infrastructure.

 

[USRailFan]

What most people expected, has now been confirmed: The Di4 loco, and the two B5 coaches that derailed, will be stripped of usable spares, and then scrapped. The other B5s will be repaired. In the meantime work is still ongoing on the railway line past the derailment site, to secure against future rockfall a great deal of mountain is apparently being demolished. Estimated opening is now apparently December 1st...

 

[JonasB]

Not at all surprising. And not good news for Nordlandsbanen, it will mean the end of the the night trains between Trondheim and Bodø until new locos can be found.

 

[Gloster]

Not at all surprising. And not good news for Nordlandsbanen, it will mean the end of the the night trains between Trondheim and Bodø until new locos can be found.

Theoretically it would be possible to run the through services to Bodø with only four locos, but it would be cutting it fine. I wonder if Nordic Refinance have any former DSB ME, technically similar to the Di.4, left over, although they would probably need the Fde generator wagons. Are the latter still around?

 

[USRailFan]

Rumour says:
-The Røros line will get solely Talbot Talent (Type 93) DMUs in the trains that do not run over the entire line
-The daytime Trondheim - Bodø trains will be run with bimodal Flirt MUs (Type 76)
-Night trains will continue as before

 

[jamesontheroad]

NRK report this evening, in Norwegian, that night trains are suspended until new locomotives are acquired. So, indefinitely.

Link, in Norwegian: https://www.nrk.no/nordland/nattoge...-til-nye-lokomotiver-er-pa-plass--1.17133580?

My + Google translation of a passage:

The night trains on Nordlandsbanen are suspended until new locomotives are in place​

Due to a shortage of locomotives, SJ Nord will only run day trains on the Nordlandsbanen. The night trains are cancelled in their entirety, without alternative transport. This is what the train company writes in a press release.
"This is very regrettable, and we understand the frustration of our travellers. The background is a lack of locomotives, which means that we do not have the capacity to maintain both day and night running without the supply of new locomotives," says director of communications and government relations in SJ Norge Randi Ness.
...
The section between Bjerka and Mo i Rana will be opened in week 48 at the earliest. That is Monday 25 November.
...
"SJ Norge has repeatedly raised with the authorities the need for new trains on the Nordlandsbanen. New long-distance trains are planned to be phased in only in 2029, so it is important to try to find a solution until these are in place. We are now working together with the Norwegian Railway Directorate and Norske Tog to look at possible solutions to this situation, and will return with more information as soon as possible," says Randi Ness.

 

[Gloster]

NRK report this evening, in Norwegian, that night trains are suspended until new locomotives are acquired. So, indefinitely.

Link, in Norwegian: https://www.nrk.no/nordland/nattoge...-til-nye-lokomotiver-er-pa-plass--1.17133580?

My + Google translation of a passage:

I wonder how much of this is SJ Nord trying to get someone else to pay for any measures that might be needed to get the sleepers running again. Having no sleeper train for a couple of years is likely to have a noticeable economic effect in the region.

 

[takno]

NRK report this evening, in Norwegian, that night trains are suspended until new locomotives are acquired. So, indefinitely.

Link, in Norwegian: https://www.nrk.no/nordland/nattoge...-til-nye-lokomotiver-er-pa-plass--1.17133580?

My + Google translation of a passage:

https://www.nrk.no/nordland/sj-innstiller-nattogene-nordlandsbanen-pa-ubestemt-tid-1.17133690 is the full article with some more detail, including the total numbers of locomotives they have, the age of them and the issues earlier in the year when 3 out of 5 of them were out of service at the same time (although they say that the day train was prioritised that time, which doesn't gel with my recollection of the day train being cancelled for a week or two while the night train ran uninterrupted).

I wonder how much of this is SJ Nord trying to get someone else to pay for any measures that might be needed to get the sleepers running again. Having no sleeper train for a couple of years is likely to have a noticeable economic effect in the region.

SJ Nord seems to be a pretty lightweight franchise, in the same style as the original British privatisation. It's not an especially long franchise, and Norske Tog own the trains, Bane Nor own the tracks, the government specifies the service, and EnTur sell the tickets. It's not really SJ's job to source or pay for replacements

 

[duesselmartin]

to me it sounds as liberalisation in Norway is a total mess. Nowhere in Europe the original goals were reached in the passenger sector.

 

[Gloster]

to me it sounds as liberalisation in Norway is a total mess. Nowhere in Europe the original goals were reached in the passenger sector.

Unless you consider that the original goal was to allow ‘chums’ to make a lot of money at the taxpayer’s expense.

 

[takno]

to me it sounds as liberalisation in Norway is a total mess. Nowhere in Europe the original goals were reached in the passenger sector.

I wouldn't say it's going well - walk-up prices are the highest in Europe, advance fares aren't exactly a bargain, and there has been very little innovation in the offerings of any of the operators. Cooperation has been a bit of a problem, with certain operators refusing to offer mutual connection guarantees and no real attempt at ticket acceptance in the case of disruption. Ability to buy tickets in one place at the cheapest price is just starting to happen under Entur (SJ and Goahead don't even do their own retailing anymore)

On the other hand, the network wasn't fantastic in the first place, NSB as Vy effectively won control of more than half the network anyway, I believe the government still owns all the trains through Norske Tog, and the contracts were let just before Covid, so the operators were severely on the back foot from the off.

All of this is getting well off the point though

 

[Richard Scott]

Theoretically it would be possible to run the through services to Bodø with only four locos, but it would be cutting it fine. I wonder if Nordic Refinance have any former DSB ME, technically similar to the Di.4, left over, although they would probably need the Fde generator wagons. Are the latter still around?

Did see an ME 1500 at Mo-i-Rana on a freight in April so would assume they're cleared for the line? Would have thought there was at least one that could be hired? Surely as they have ETS they could run the onboard systems on the coaches even if required some modifications?

 

[Sir Felix Pole]

I wouldn't say it's going well - walk-up prices are the highest in Europe, advance fares aren't exactly a bargain, and there has been very little innovation in the offerings of any of the operators. Cooperation has been a bit of a problem, with certain operators refusing to offer mutual connection guarantees and no real attempt at ticket acceptance in the case of disruption. Ability to buy tickets in one place at the cheapest price is just starting to happen under Entur (SJ and Goahead don't even do their own retailing anymore)

On the other hand, the network wasn't fantastic in the first place, NSB as Vy effectively won control of more than half the network anyway, I believe the government still owns all the trains through Norske Tog, and the contracts were let just before Covid, so the operators were severely on the back foot from the off.

All of this is getting well off the point though

One of the problems of Norway is that it has choosen to invest its oil wealth in roads rather than railways. All the main lines are hopelessly slow - Oslo to Bergen takes 7 hours for about 300 miles. A cut off line from Sandvika to Hønefoss, which would shorten the distance by about 30 miles, has been promised for years but keeps getting 'postponed'. The Stavanger line is little more than a cobbled together collection of fomer narrow gauge lines - Oslo to Stavanger takes over 8 hrs for about 360 miles. One bright spot is that the Trondheim main line is now being doubled and realigned from Eidsvoll to Lillehammer.