Norway
Explosion fear as trains collide - Brake failure blamed

photo: Aftenposten

The accident should have been prevented as the line is equipped with an Automatic Train Protection system that brings a train to a halt if it fails to heed a stop signal. Officials of Norwegian Railways say that the train did not stop because its brakes had failed.

A fire which broke out amongst the wreckage caused emergency services to fear a massive explosion. One of the tankers ruptured and caught fire. As firefighters sprayed water on the next tanker to cool it, police created an 800 metre "safety zone" around the station. About 2000 people were evacuated.

The accident happened on one of Norway's busiest rail routes. All rail services along the line were cancelled including those to Oslo Airport.

Earlier story

Explosion fear as trains collide
05 Apr 2000

Web sources:

Train crash raises questions about rail safety in Norway
Yahoo 05 Apr 2000

Norway Train Fires Spur Evacuations
Yahoo 05 Apr 2000

Accident blamed on brake failure
Aftenposten 05 Apr 2000

Norway Town Evacuated As Train Explosion Feared
Yahoo 05 Apr 2000

Norway Train Town Evacuated
Excite 05 Apr 2000

At least 2,000 evacuated after train crash in Norway
CNN 05 Apr 2000

In Norwegian:

Ukjent årsak til togkollisjonen
Aftenposten 05 Apr 2000

Flytoget passerte minutter før ulykken
VG 05 Apr 2000

Over 2000 personer evakuert, brannen kan vare i dager
CNN Norge 05 Apr 2000