The cause of Thursday’s derailment of a passenger train without a driver near Klínec u Prahy was apparently human error. According to Transport Minister Martin Kupka (ODS), this follows from the preliminary conclusions of the investigators. Kupka told ČTK today. The empty set started on its own, after the accident the carriages ended up on their side and on the roof outside the tracks. There were no injuries in the incident.
The police are investigating the case on suspicion of reckless endangerment. He finds out whether it was a technical fault or a human failure. The Railway Inspectorate is also conducting the investigation. The driver was taken out of service.
“I don’t want to anticipate how the investigation itself will turn out. So far, everything points to the fact that it really was a human error, which can never be completely prevented. In this case, the train was moving without the engines and electronics connected, so it was very difficult to influence its movement,” said Kupka. According to him, this is only the conclusion of a very preliminary investigation. “Of course, once the Railway Inspectorate finishes its investigation, we will make the details available. But we are several months away from that,” he added.
“As for the next steps, a significant breakthrough will be brought by the European ETCS security system, which we will launch in exclusive operation on selected corridor lines from January 1 next year,” said Kupka. According to him, this will be a very important step towards making the Czech railway safer.
“We are also talking with carriers about the possible further security of local and regional lines, where the ETCS element is only planned for the years 2031, 2032 and beyond. We are considering the possibility of deploying, for example, a less demanding form of security that could also prevent a possible train collision on non-corridor lines,” he added.
Tags: Kupka train driver apparently derailed due human error
