Livraga derailment

On 6 February 2020, a high-speed train derailed at Livraga, Lombardy, Italy. Two people were killed and 31 were injured.

Livraga derailment
Details
LocationLivraga, Lombardy
CountryItaly
LineMilan–Bologna high-speed railway
OperatorTrenitalia
ServiceMilan-Salerno
Incident typeDerailment
CauseUnder investigation, incorrect detection of the lie of a set of points suspected.
Statistics
Trains1
Passengers28
Crew5
Deaths2
Injuries31

Accident

The Milan-Salerno Frecciarossa 1000 train derailed in Livraga at 05:34 local time (04:34 UTC).[1][2][3] The train was travelling at about 300 kilometres per hour (190 mph) at the time. The locomotive and two carriages derailed,[4] colliding with a wagon and a building.[5] Of the 33 people on the train – 5 staff and 28 passengers – both drivers were killed,[4][5] and all 31 survivors were injured.[6] A set of points had been replaced the day before the accident.[3]

The injured were taken to hospitals in Castel San Giovanni, Codogno, Crema, Cremona, Humanitas, Lodi, Melegnano, Piacenza, and Pavia.[3] Two people were seriously injured.[7] Railway workers in Italy called a two-hour strike starting at midday, 7 February.[3]

Investigation

An investigation into the accident was opened.[5] The Agenzia Nazionale per la Sicurezza delle Ferrovie is responsible for investigating railway accidents in Italy.

Investigators reported that the accident was caused by a set of junction points being in the reverse position, but were reported to the signalling system as in the normal - i.e. straight - position. Maintenance works occurred that night, and as a consequence of the inspection, points were found faulty.

Unable to replace them overnight, maintenance workers followed a temporary override procedure, which is allowed to take place in these exceptional circumstances.

Maintenance workers claimed that they manually placed the faulty point to the straight position, but disconnected its network connection and its link to the safety signaling sustem (ECTS L2) because of their faulty status.


As normal part of such procedure, workers reported (according to evidence) that the point had been forcibly put in the straight position and taken offline. The signalling system used this information to report no anomalies on the line, and as a consequence the train was not commanded to reduce speed.

Under normal circumstances (i.e. is the junction was really straight), all services on the line could have continued their journeys at full speed. In this case, the first train on schedule hit the junction at 292km/h causing the derailment.[8]

On February 13th the head of rail transport security agency ANSF stated that faulty cabling in switching equipment supplied by Alstom may have been a factor in the accident.[9]

References
  1. "Deraglia un Frecciarossa nel lodigiano: centinaia i soccorritori sul posto" [A Frecciarossa in the Lodi area derails: hundreds of rescuers on site]. Ministero dell'interno (in Italian). 6 February 2020. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  2. "Incidente sulla linea Alta Velocità Milano - Bologna" [Accident on the Milan - Bologna high-speed line] (in Italian). Gruppo FS Italiane. FS News. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  3. Pisa, Massimo; Rancati, Mauro; Visetti, Giampaolo. "Deraglia treno alta velocità a Lodi, morti i due macchinisti. Ci sono 31 feriti. Ieri sostituito un deviatoio" [High speed train derailment in Lodi, the two train drivers died. There are 31 injured. Yesterday replaced a turnout] (in Italian). La Repubblica. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  4. "Milan train crash: Two dead and more than 20 injured after high-speed train derails". The Independent. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  5. "Italy train crash: Two dead in high-speed derailment". BBC News Online. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  6. "High-speed train derails, drivers killed, 31 hurt". ANSA. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  7. "Two dead and 27 injured as high-speed train derails in Italy". Sky News. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  8. "Treno deragliato, le cause dell'incidente: «Uno scambio aperto per errore»" [Train derailed, the causes of the accident: «A set of points opened by mistake»] (in Italian). Corriere. 7 February 2020. Retrieved 8 February 2020.
  9. "Alstom executive investigated over Italian train crash". Reuters World News. 14 February 2020. Retrieved 23 February 2020.

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