Three killed when Greek passenger train derails and crashes into house.

[2HAP]

Three people were killed when a Greek passenger train derailed and crashed into a house in northern Greece on 13 May.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-greece-train-idUKKBN1890TU?il=0

Three people died and 10 more were injured when a train derailed in northern Greece on Saturday night and ripped through a house, police said.


At least two carriages crashed into the ground floor of a house, ripping through its walls. Others toppled on to their sides, their windows smashed. It was unclear what caused the accident.

 

[2HAP]

Train was doing 143kph in a 60kph zone.

http://www.ekathimerini.com/218553/.../adendro-crash-train-was-speeding-report-says

A preliminary investigation into the train crash which killed three people near Thessaloniki, northern Greece, on Saturday has confirmed that it was caused by excessive speed.

Investigators estimated that the train... ...was moving at 143 km/h, more than twice the speed limit of 60 km/h, when it derailed in the town of Adendro, 37 km (23 miles) from Thessaloniki.

 

[MarkyT]

Train was doing 143kph in a 60kph zone.

http://www.ekathimerini.com/218553/.../adendro-crash-train-was-speeding-report-says

Looking at maps and aerial imagery no significant curvature was obvious on what looks like a fairly straight high speed alignment.

From photos of the incident online it looks like the derailment occurred traversing a speed restricted turnout into one of the platform loops at Adendro station. Whether or not the train was booked to stop at the station, the route must have been set via the platform loop rather than the faster through line.

This report goes into a little more detail about the latest findings:
http://www.amna.gr/english/article/...-train-crash-in-Adendro--according-to-report-

 

[Groningen]

Yes; maybe the driver thought that he did not have to stop and that he stayed on the mainline. The switch from going fast or slow (stop) is 200 meters from the building that was hit.

 

[Blillpers]

What kind of cab signalling system does Greece have? It seems that it should have prevented this kind of incident if there was one.

 

[MarkyT]

What kind of cab signalling system does Greece have? It seems that it should have prevented this kind of incident if there was one.

Athens - Thessaloniki was to be be equipped throughout with ETCS L1 as part of a major modernisation project before the financial crisis. Not clear how much has been completed.

http://www.codepatras.ethz.ch/downl...saia-Keramida - ERGOSE/ΖΥΡΙΧΗ_4 09 12 ΤΡ2.pdf

Can't find any details online about any legacy protection systems, but it appears signalling was not provided generally on the main line until the Nazi occupation of WW2 when very teutonic semaphores were erected widely. Before WW2, traffic was sparse enough to be managed entirely by stationmasters using telegraphic / telephone block procedures although it's likely that system employed some fixed marker boards, particularly distant markers. A custom colour light system was devised later.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_railway_signalling

 

[Groningen]

All that graffiti does not make that derailed train look nicer. Many more trains have to suffer that faith in Greece.

 

[Jordeh]

All that graffiti does not make that derailed train look nicer. Many more trains have to suffer that faith in Greece.

What a strange post.

 

[Groningen]

Think not so. You should travel in a clean environment (inside and outside)

.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

Sounds very similar to the 2016 crash in O Porrino, Galicia, when a CP Vigo-Porto DMU was derailed at speed at a station turnout on an otherwise straight line.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-37315566

 

[Jordeh]

Think not so. You should travel in a clean environment (inside and outside)

Surely a safe environment is more of a pressing matter?

 

[Darandio]

Surely a safe environment is more of a pressing matter?

You'd have thought so. In a thread discussing a fatal accident it seems very strange that the focus is on graffiti.

 

[33056]

Athens - Thessaloniki was to be be equipped throughout with ETCS L1 as part of a major modernisation project before the financial crisis. Not clear how much has been completed.

http://www.codepatras.ethz.ch/downl...saia-Keramida - ERGOSE/ΖΥΡΙΧΗ_4 09 12 ΤΡ2.pdf

No apparent means of signalling in that area when I was there in October 2015 and I doubt that much has changed since then. The junction at Axios a couple of miles from Adendro was being operated by hand and at Sindos, a little further towards Thessaloniki, there were two platform loops as well as two through lines which were being used despite all the signals being out of use (although lit, they had white crosses tied to them).

 

[2HAP]

Which unit was involved? It was a Class 520 as far as I can tell, but I've not seen anything identifying the actual unit.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

The operator TrainOSE is now owned by Trenitalia, having been sold off by the Greek government last year.
The rolling stock and infrastructure is still state-owned.
I realise now this is one of the 2-hourly services between Thessaloniki and Athens, on which I am planning to travel next year.
I had in mind a rather more stylish train for the country's prime inter-city service, and the comments about signalling practices don't exactly inspire confidence!

 

[duesselmartin]

The operator TrainOSE is now owned by Trenitalia, having been sold off by the Greek government last year.
The rolling stock and infrastructure is still state-owned.
I realise now this is one of the 2-hourly services between Thessaloniki and Athens, on which I am planning to travel next year.
I had in mind a rather more stylish train for the country's prime inter-city service, and the comments about signalling practices don't exactly inspire confidence!

Loco hauled trains also travers the route. As to signalling, it may be insufficient, yet trains don't crash in a regular regular​ basis. So I wouldn't fear OSE. Comfort may be a thing of luck though.

 

[MarcVD]

As far as I can see :

1. The accident did not happen on the Athens to Thessaloniki line but on the line in Northern Greece that links Thessaloniki with the turkish border. Near Thessaloniki the line to Athens is double track and electrified.

2. The train in the accident is an old DMU which is not used on trains between Thessaloniki and Athens. Those trains are made of hauled rake with Electric locos on the north of the line and Diesel for still a few years in the south. And the cars used on those trains are among the most comfortable existing in Europe.

Envoyé de mon GT-I9505 en utilisant Tapatalk

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

As far as I can see :
1. The accident did not happen on the Athens to Thessaloniki line but on the line in Northern Greece that links Thessaloniki with the turkish border. Near Thessaloniki the line to Athens is double track and electrified.

No, Adendro is on the Athens line, about 5km west of the Vardar river bridge.
https://www.google.com/maps/place/4...m5!3m4!1s0x0:0x0!8m2!3d40.666667!4d22.6?hl=en

In the picture posted above, the main electrified route seems to be to the left.
One of the reports describes it as Train 58, which is an evening 1616 Athens-Thessaloniki inter-city service (southbound trains have odd numbers).
http://greece.greekreporter.com/201...l-train-crash-in-adendro-according-to-report/

 

[MarcVD]

OK I stand corrected regarding the location. I checked, reviewed all pictures
that I could find, and you are indeed right. My excuses.

On the other hand, I confirm that I was also there in 2015 and observed that
all trains on Athens-Thessaloniki were made of hauled rakes. The presence of
this DMU on such a service looks rather odd. Last minute replacement may be ?

I'm also a bit surprised regarding the apparent absence of signalling that has
been reported here : trains on this part of the line are travelling quite fast, is
that really compatible with manual, or even total absence, of signals ?

 

[MarkyT]

One of the reports describes it as Train 58, which is an evening 1616 Athens-Thessaloniki inter-city service (southbound trains have odd numbers).

Looking at the the OSE journey planner, it seems Adendro is a regular stop for Sub and Reg class trains tomorrow 26/05/2017, but not for ICs such as train 58. Can't confirm if that is an entirely regular pattern though as some parts of the infrastructure may still be out of use due to repair work :

Train 58 at 26-05-2017

# Time Delay Station
1 16:16 Athens
2 16:24 SKA (Rail center of Acharnes)
3 17:06 Inoi
4 17:21 Thiva
5 17:41 Levadia
6 18:11 Bralos
7 18:39 Lianokladi
8 19:50 Domokos
9 19:58 Palaeofarsalos
10 20:17 Larissa
11 20:55 Katerini
12 21:16 Platy
13 21:39 Thessaloniki

If this is the regular stopping pattern it suggest the driver of the derailed train was expecting to rush through the station on the fast through line but was diverted unexpectedly via the slower platform loop turnout instead, perhaps due to some infrastructure fault or maintenance work underway.

 

[MarcVD]

OK. And such old rolling stock certainly did not have any kind of sophisticated signalling system on board. So if thé driver did not observe the signals correctly, there was nothing to stop him.

Do we know at what time the derailment happened ?

Envoyé de mon GT-I9505 en utilisant Tapatalk

 

[duesselmartin]

OK. And such old rolling stock certainly did not have any kind of sophisticated signalling system on board. So if thé driver did not observe the signals correctly, there was nothing to stop him.

Do we know at what time the derailment happened ?

Envoyé de mon GT-I9505 en utilisant Tapatalk

The "old" rolling stock was delivered around 1990. So around the same time as BRs 158s. Most European railways have stock of similar age.

 

[shredder1]

How terrible, we are on the Greek Railways next week.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

This pretty much confirms the train details I put up. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_Adendro_train_derailment

The derailed train was a Class 520 diesel multiple unit. It was operating TrainOSE service IC 58 from Athens to Thessaloniki, carrying five crew and 73 passengers.
The derailment occurred at 21:45 local time (19:45 UTC) at a site 200 metres (660 ft) from Adendro railway station. The train had departed from Athens at 16:18.
Those killed were two traincrew, including the driver, and a passenger. Following the accident, the line through Adendro was expected to remain closed until 27 May

Actually they have the UTC time wrong.
2145 EEST is 1845 UTC.

 

[2HAP]

This pretty much confirms the train details I put up. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_Adendro_train_derailment


Actually they have the UTC time wrong.
2145 EEST is 1845 UTC.

"They" is me! Now corrected.