Netherlands Train Crash: Woman Dies Of Injuries After Dutch Train Accident

Care providers and policemen walk on the site where two trains collided between train stations Amsterdam-Sloterdijk and Amsterdam-Centraal in Amsterdam, on April 21, 2012. At least 60 people were injured, up to 20 of them seriously, in a two-train collision today outside Amsterdam. (FRANK VAN BEEK/AFP/Getty Images)

AMSTERDAM -- A woman died Sunday of injuries a day after two trains collided head-on in Amsterdam – a crash a top rail official described as one of the worst train disasters in the Netherlands' recent history.

Scores of people were injured when the two trains slammed into one another. Amsterdam Mayor Eberhard van der Laan said 16 people who were seriously injured in the crash remained hospitalized Sunday afternoon. He gave no details of the injuries.

The mayor also offered his condolences to the 68-year-old victim's family. The crash Saturday evening involved a double-decker intercity train and a commuter train.

"Two trains colliding on the same track is a nightmare," said Bert Meerstadt, director of national railroad operator NS, before news of the woman's death.

Meerstadt declined to speculate on what caused the collision. He said crash investigators would study black box recorders on both trains.

The accident happened near a popular park on a busy stretch of track close to Amsterdam's Central Station where trains generally do not travel at full speed. Two separate investigations will focus on whether human error or a mechanical problem led to the collision.

Comments

[CapSen]

09:09 AM on 04/25/2012

Latest theory: driver might have been blinded by low sun.

http://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2012/04/25/prorail-machinist-ongeluk-amsterdam-had-last-van-de-zon/

[CapSen]

07:33 AM on 04/24/2012

The Dutch version of the DA's office is looking into charging the lady who was driving the train; chances are she will not be prosecuted.

Last year train drivers missed 172 red signals. Mostly freight trains on shunt yards; in the remainder of the cases the automatic train safety system was activated.

There's been a discussion for decades now about upgrading the safety system to the new pan-European one, but that will cost at least € 2.5 billion.

[butchcliff]

06:02 AM on 04/24/2012

Sad, tragic. Old adage... 'Asleep at the switch'.. comes to mind & is understood

[CharliePoole]

09:25 PM on 04/22/2012

"Meerstadt declined to speculate on what caused the collision. He said crash investigators would study black box recorders on both trains."

Investigators have published this excerpt from the black box recorder of both trains, to shed some light on the accident:

Conductor, Train #1: "Man, you gotta try this stuff. I scored a key of Acapulco Gold. No stems, no seeds. This is some badass weed, man".

Conductor, Train #2: "Woah. I'm barely gettin' buzz off of what I'm smokin'. It's just giving me the munchies. Can I get some of that stuff off you later?".

Conductor, Train #1: "Yeah, sure. By the way, there's this train coming towards me. You ever had that happen?".

Conductor, Train #2: "Hey yeah, that's funny! 'Cos I got a train comin' toward me right now. Weird, huh?".

[Mokum]

08:18 AM on 04/23/2012

Lame comment

[AIIegroTroppo]

11:12 AM on 04/23/2012

idiotic post.

[CharliePoole]

08:45 PM on 04/24/2012

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humour

[Lo Chiaro]

08:29 PM on 04/22/2012

40 to 50 thousand people a year DIE ON AMERICAN HIGHWAYS. 'guess that's just collateral damage for living in this time.

[Snownova]

09:01 AM on 04/23/2012

I agree, this is the worst train accident in the Netherlands in years, if not decades. But the casualty rate is about average for a weeks worth of car accidents here.

So instead of making people afraid of traveling by train, I hope that we can emphasize how safe they are and how rare accidents like this are.

[LeeRose]

08:14 PM on 04/22/2012

RIP and I hope everyone else who was injured has a fast recovery

[OuweLul]

06:46 PM on 04/22/2012

30 High speed trains in 5 minutes

French, Belgian, German and Eurostar

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2l7fNx4YHY&feature=related

[Erikhuffpost]

06:33 PM on 04/22/2012

Latest update:

According to Dutch newspaper Trouw, the driver of the commuter train appears to have missed a red signal.

The commuter train has already been towed away by a locomotive. The double deck intercity needs to be moved coach by coach as it sustained damage to its front bogie.

[Aries Warrior]

07:00 PM on 04/22/2012

Might have been high on something...many d.rugs are legal in the Netherlands.

[Rhiannah Zalm]

08:05 PM on 04/22/2012

Legal in your own time not during working hours; also use of the drugs is only allowed in your own house or in designated areas, not in public areas...

[OuweLul]

12:03 AM on 04/23/2012

If you had half a brain and went travelling here. you would find out that very few people use pot,, mostly all American goofballs like yourself.

[OuweLul]

06:26 PM on 04/22/2012

Going to the ATM in Holland on my electric bike

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iv5b_9OJ9x4

[OuweLul]

05:49 PM on 04/22/2012

A ride around my home area here in Middle Netherlands. MUCH better than Amsterdam

On my electric bike

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DramVAb6Zng

[AIIegroTroppo]

11:13 AM on 04/23/2012

good luck with that bus barreling towards you

[Gingerland]

04:11 AM on 04/24/2012

He has too much time on his hands...but he loves his bike.

[Charles R Tait]

05:49 PM on 04/22/2012

Sad to hear someone died after being injured. One note....looking at the crash picture, the seats of the train car that the other train impacted are facing forward, suggesting that it was rear ended.

[Hank007]

06:17 PM on 04/22/2012

Train seats face both directions, depending on which end of the car they are. They basically face he middle of the car, not the direction of travel, since a train car goes both directions.

[Rhiannah Zalm]

08:02 PM on 04/22/2012

Seats on Dutch trains face both ways; this crash was a head-on-head collision with both trains travelling at approx. 50km/h so the total impact was of a 100km/h crash. They should never have been on the same rail...

[Tim The Enchanter]

05:33 PM on 04/22/2012

"I have a great idea, in order to save money, we're going to make one set of tracks, not two!"

[dutchman]

06:26 PM on 04/22/2012

There are multiple tracks.  

A software problem caused both trains to share the same one.

Next.

[CharliePoole]

09:27 PM on 04/22/2012

Was the software running on Microsoft Windows by any chance?

[Tim The Enchanter]

05:32 PM on 04/22/2012

I can't wait til we can crash some new high speed trains here!

[DataBoy]

07:11 PM on 04/22/2012

No worries about that Tim, there will be no high speed trains in our lifetimes at this rate.

[ADVOCATE4ZPG]

09:14 AM on 04/23/2012

In the U.S., even low speed trains collide, e.g., that one three years ago north of Los Angeles......

[GPTP]

05:31 PM on 04/22/2012

Poor woman, RIP!

[OuweLul]

05:30 PM on 04/22/2012

MMMMMMM, my local bakery in the village in the Netherlands :-)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E56gBYXLIdg

[Erikhuffpost]

06:00 PM on 04/22/2012

My old home town.

http://youtu.be/ugT77D--MFE

[OuweLul]

06:33 PM on 04/22/2012

Cool man.

I take the Thalys down to Brussels occasionally.