Just in case anyone was worried, Adrian and I were nowhere near the train crash this morning, although we were both on other SNCB trains. It is such a shock to see those pictures of twisted metal with those familiar (B) logos. My heart goes out to those families who had no idea that their breakfasts together today would be their last, and to all those injured passengers who required amputations. I hope that we quickly learn the cause of the disaster so preventative measures can be put in place as soon as possible.
Related posts:
Entries (RSS)
Things were pretty crazy here in the Brussels crisis center… but I was amazed that nobody seemed to panic, everybody was very focused and professional. Some of my colleagues were on that train, luckily not in front and they didn’t get hurt.
This tragic crash was caused by a train that ignored a red stop sign.
The line it ran on was equipped with a system to stop trains running a red light instantly, but unfortunately this
slightly older model did not have the receiver to pick up these signals.
After a major train crash in 2001 (in Pécrot) the Belgian railroads promised all trains should be upgraded, but
nine years later only 40% have been equipped with auto-stop-on-red.
A tragic day for all those who were injured or lost a loved one.
Yup, I was going to tell you, but Peter beat me to it. The saddest thing is that this could have been prevented had the train been properly equipped. And let me tell you, after having been on the Knokke/Blankenberg train where the cable snapped, riding trains will make me a little nervous now. Guess I’ll just try no to sit near the front.
It’s still the safest way to travel, people die in car accidents in Belgium nearly every day but that doesn’t make the front pages…