NORWAY
Near miss near Hamar
Laurenz Edelman : Sunday September 24, 2000
Passengers had a narrow escape when the trains on which they were travelling were sent on a collsion course on Sunday evening.
The incident occurred between Hamar and Ottestad when both trains had by accident
received a green signal. The error was discovered by the head-dispatcher who used trainradio to contact the Intercity-train at Ottestad. This train had received green signal in the direction of Hamar even to the track was
occupied by a train travelling in the opposite direction.
This line is normally controlled by CTC but because of works at Ottestad station (extension of the passing siding) this part of the line was
controlled manually by a dispatcher at both Hamar and Ottestad.
A representative for The Norwegian Railway Administration (Jernbaneverket, responsible for track-maintenance and traffic-control) calls it a
very serious incident and says that there own accident-committee will investigate the matter. The dispatchers responsible and the drivers were suspended from duty immediately after the
incident
The Norwegian State Railways (NSB) is experiencing problems as two of their drivers were suspended, finding replacements seems to be
a difficult task.
The incident occurred 19:05 local time.
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This file last updated: Monday, 25-Sep-2000 17:36:32 EDT
