44 injured as two trains collide head-on in Switzerland – local media

What's with all the train crashes lately?

first Canada, then France, Spain and now Squitzerland...is there a train crash epidemic happening?

Is this TPTB's grand idea of creating chaos?

Originally posted by Senduko
Its just an Accident, it was the driver!

This ain't ffng normal, but here come the nay sayers, that its all perfectly normal, because of statistics.

It is my believe these are real terrorist attacks by al"CIA'da cell's. I think they don't want to make this public out of fear that there would come clashes between normal Muslims and us western people.
But these are attacks.

The accident occurred near Lausanne, in the western French-speaking region of the country. The train crashed approximately 100 meters away from a rail station, as it headed towards the city, according to local commuter newspaper 20 Minutes.

Again, right before arriving at the train station. And as I said in the thread from the Spain accident, more will follow this year. I was right.

edit on 29-7-2013 by Senduko because: (no reason given)

I think I'm totally going to agree with you..

I'm glad to see I'm not the only one thinking it's just too many of these accidents happening lately.

And let's not forget it's not just trains and planes. Buses crash too, again too often I think. One month ago 16 of my fellow Romanians died in a bus accident in Montenegro: www.bbc.co.uk...

Yesterday in Italy: "38 people dead in the country's worst road accident for decades." - www.bbc.co.uk...

Other big accidents involving buses: 19 killed in Thailand (23 July); 15 soldiers dead in Egypt (21 July); 18 dead in Russia (13 July).

Again, it's my opinion a lot of these happened lately.

Originally posted by MDDoxs

Originally posted by Carreau
reply to post by misskat1

 

The tracks weren't misaligned in Spain, I watched the video of the driver doing 120mph around a 50mph turn.

That is correct and he has recently been detained and I believe formally charged.

In this instance, it sounds like a signalling error, as both trains ended up on the same track.

So with so many "mistakes" all at the same time that only leaves a curse. who cursed the worlds trains and planes maybe too.

reply to post by Char-Lee


Seriously? Well maybe it was that bunch of nutters that did a "pink mass" over the grave of the mother of the leader of the Westboro Baptist Church, in order to turn her gay, posthumously. Thats seems to be the sort of crazy one would have to be to believe one could curse the entire international train travel industry.

Just some statistics for you guys.

Train Accident Statistics:

1. Every 90 minutes there is a train collision or derailment.
   
2. A train carrying hazardous cargo derails approximately every two weeks in the United States.
   

Lately those got more media attention because of the victims. Everything else is just side effect of using internet.

So a coin lands heads up 3 times in a row...

IT MUST BE MAGIC!

Sorry my mother was making mention a few days ago of 'this cant be coincidence' could this be the start of the end bollocks, so hearing other people try and latch on to that sort of track (pardon the pun) irks me

Now go back over the last 5 years and find all the train accidents that happened and see how many were never reported in your local media. Thats all this is, large wreck with large death toll happens suddenly trains crashes become big news, interest of the hour, so any that happen get front paged and suddenly somethings wrong with trains!?

These last few crashes are no different than all the previous ones you didnt hear about, they just happened in a shorter span of time than is average.

Its the exact same thing that happened with the Russian meteor... only this time its trains, thing is like the meteor there will be people who will continue to say there must be a conspiracy or pattern to it in years to come.

This is the fourth one now i believe.First there was the one in Canada, then France, Spain and now Switzerland.

Wait... how did the trains hit head on? Aren't there separate tracks for trains going opposite directions for a reason? Did one of the trains derail or something? This is really strange.

Originally posted by TrueBrit
reply to post by Char-Lee

 

Seriously? Well maybe it was that bunch of nutters that did a "pink mass" over the grave of the mother of the leader of the Westboro Baptist Church, in order to turn her gay, posthumously. Thats seems to be the sort of crazy one would have to be to believe one could curse the entire international train travel industry.

Ahh it was a joke.

This didn't get the coverage I thought it should.

The Port of Tampa is one of the largest ports in the South East and just last week had a train derail dumping bio-fuel all over the port. Tampa was lucky that no spark or lightning ignited it.

www.tampabay.com...

I can't say I saw one national media article covering it, and relatives near the area we're clueless about it when I asked them.

In my mind there's definitely something deliberate occurring. Who's responsible is anyone's guess really. I mean, who knows the actual truth? Evil plotting men and women don't just live in Washington. It's important to remember, American's didn't invent war, subversion, and espionage; the US inherited those evils, and to think they are behind every boogey man would be naive. Of all the countries, the US is one of the newest to the game. If there is a master mind to all of this, I would have to believe it's coming from a society with a lot more patience and experience in these matters than the US.

Europe, the Middle East, Asia... They are all much more skilled at starting wars than the US; especially wars where you can get your enemies to attack each other while you sit on the side lines and keep prodding; North and South American countries still haven't mastered those subtleties yet I don't think. Europe, the Mid East, and Asia have been doing it for thousands of years to each other. To think people and governments in those regions wouldn't be just as capable, and willing, as the CIA is an incredibly naive world viewpoint.

The fog of war has already set in, and there's no physical dust yet. Strap in, it's going to be a wild ride.

reply to post by mikegrouchy


I am sorry mikegrouchy, I am missing something here...

How is 1993 40 years ago exactly? Seems more like twenty? Just saying.

Yeah. Obviously, something is going on. No idea what but it just has that smell about it. Doesn't it?

reply to post by MDDoxs


My thoughts and prayers are with family of the fallen

Originally posted by TrueBrit
reply to post by mikegrouchy

 

I am sorry mikegrouchy, I am missing something here...

How is 1993 40 years ago exactly? Seems more like twenty? Just saying.

D'oh!

I stand corrected.
Thank you for that.


Mike

reply to post by mikegrouchy


No problem. Sometimes when you get stuck into research mode, ones brain gets stuck in "absorb" mode, and when it comes time to present what you have discovered, changing gears again can be sticky. Good information in that post for all that though!

As pointed out train crashes happen all the time, the question is why are they reporting them more in the media?
I think it is just slow summer news season all the politicians being on holiday and all.

quoting from here: au.finance.yahoo.com...


''The horrific train crash in Spain that killed 78 people comes at the worst time for the recession-hit nation's railway sector, which is pushing to win new markets for its high-speed trains.

Spain is in the running for a contract worth $16.4 billion (12.7 billion euros) for a high-speed rail network in Brazil linking the cities of Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo and Campinas which will be awarded in September.

The country, which two years ago won a contract to build and operate a high-speed rail link in Saudi Arabia, is also eyeing new markets in the United States, Russia, Kazakhstan and the United Arab Emirates.

"Technologically Spain is a pioneer in high-speed rail," Alejandro Lago, a logistics professor at the Iese business school in Barcelona, told AFP.

Since the 1960s, the country has had trains made by its Talgo train maker that could circulate at speeds of up to 200 kilometres (125 miles) an hour, he added.

Spain has invested heavily in road and rail links over the past decade and it now has the second-largest high-speed train network in the world, spanning 3,100 kilometres. Only China's is larger.

The investigation is trying to find out why the train was going so fast and why security devices to keep speed within permitted limits did not slow the train.

Spanish state railway company Renfe said the train -- a model able to adapt between high-speed and normal tracks -- had no technical problems and had just passed an inspection on the morning of the accident.
The crash -- Spain's deadliest rail disaster in decades -- is a huge blow for the country's bid for the deal in Brazil.
Brazil's bidding process for the country's lucrative infrastructure project specifies that firms in the run cannot have had an accident that caused deaths in their high-speed rail network in the last five years, El Pais reported.
That would appear to disqualify Renfe, according to the newspaper.

The rule -- which applies only if an accident is due to "operational causes" -- has already disqualified China's Communications Company Limited from the running due to an accident in June 2011 that killed 33 people.
The private and public Spanish companies that make up the consortium in the running for the contract have been reluctant to speak publicly about the impact of the accident on their bid.

But several unnamed sources close to the consortium, which includes Renfe and Spanish rail network administrator Adif, told Spanish business daily El Economista that they felt the contract was "lost".

This would be a major setback for Spain, which has been hoping to bank on its recent deal with Saudi Arabia to obtain similar projects.

"It's important because we're talking about high-speed rail and we want to show that we are world leaders in this area," Spanish secretary of state for transport, Rafael Catala, said in an interview with AFP earlier this month.
In 2011, a Spanish consortium won a 6.7-billion-euro contract to build and operate a 450-kilometre (280-mile) high-speed rail link in the desert between the holy cities of Mecca and Medina.

Spain's first big foreign rail contract was signed with Turkey. A Spanish consortium built the high-speed rail link between Ankara and Istanbul which was inaugurated in 2009.

"During an economic downturn, the railway sector tries to compensate with activity abroad, with exports," said Pedro Fortea, the head of Spanish railway company association Mafex, which helps promote 73 firms abroad.
"Spain has experience which is transferable to other countries," he added.''

There is also activity in EU for liberalisation of the railway market

And yes there is EU background as well.

www.europarl.europa.eu...

20-02-2013

The European Commission is proposing to open domestic rail passenger markets to competition by 2019 to complete the European railway market. Views differ amongst transport committee MEPs, with fears that unprofitable lines will be closed down.


The transport commissioner, Siim Kallas, presented the Fourth Railway Package to the transport and tourism committee on Tuesday. The six draft laws are intended to complete the "Single European Railway Area" by harmonising technical provisions and giving all operators access to national rail networks.

Financing: MEPs slam member states' hypocrisy

"We have all wanted more efficient railways for years but the member states are failing to transpose certain rules. As for the funding, I have serious doubts, given the new multi-annual budget framework," said Mathieu Grosch (EPP, BE).

Vilja Savisaar (ALDE, ET) wondered: "What incentive is the Commission providing in order to stimulate investment in infrastructure?" while Ramon Tramosa (ALDE, ES) called for more European money to fund the transeuropean core network. Faced with budget cuts, "I wonder what our true ambition is," said Karim Zéribi (Greens/EFA, FR), if it's not liberalisation at any price.

Public service and railway staff

"Combining freedom of access to the market with public service contracts risks creating 'cherry picking', that is concentrating services on profitable lines," warned Said El Khadraoui (S&D, BE), "but for passengers, the only thing that counts is a reliable service, even on less heavily-used lines." Ayala Sender (S&D, ES) pointed to the "major challenge of finding an acceptable solution for railway workers."

Next steps

The discussions in Parliament will continue once the rapporteurs are appointed, with a public hearing to be held in May or June. The member states will debate the Commission's proposal on 11 March.


www.europeanrailwayreview.com...

The European rail infrastructure CEOs discuss about the rail sector’s future

Publication date: 12 June 2013
Author: Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies (CER)

Today in Zurich, chief executives from rail infrastructure companies discussed issues of key strategic and political importance to the European railway sector. In particular, the CEOs recognised that the work of the rail infrastructure managers is at the heart of enhancing the rail network in Europe, striving for better services to the benefit of rail transport customers and tax payers. Therefore, they pledge to reinforce this cooperation in the future.

Jointly organised by the Community of European Railways and Infrastructure Companies (CER) and the association of European Rail Infrastructure Managers (EIM), the annual meetings between the heads of rail infrastructure companies provide a platform for exchanging information and experiences between rail infrastructure companies, real opportunity for sharing good practice, benchmarking opportunities and lead to joint projects and initiatives

At today’s meeting, the CEOs agreed that a stronger dialogue and cooperation between European rail infrastructure companies is necessary in order to meet better the demands of the future. Therefore, they decided to set up a joint task force to identify opportunities for further enhancing the effectiveness and efficiency of Europe’s rail infrastructure over time.

The main aim of this approach would be to help all rail infrastructure managers to achieve the necessary improvements in an accelerated way. Amongst the examples for concrete cooperation are cross corridor coordination, longer and heavier trains for making best possible use of the available track capacity, intermodality projects and benchmarking on key performance indicators, such as punctuality as well as also ERTMS deployment.

CER Executive Director Libor Lochman stated: “The annual meetings of rail infrastructure CEOs demonstrate that European topics are on the top of their agendas, and are gaining in importance. These meetings are essential for exchanging views of best practice and allow us to find common solutions for the benefit of the customers.“

EIM Executive Director Monika Heiming stated: “Today’s meeting was very fruitful for the railway sector: EU rail infrastructure leaders agreed to start working together on a broader range of issues which will be beneficial for corridor and network deployment in the interest of our customers.”

The 2014 meeting of the rail infrastructure CEOs will be hosted by Trafikverket in Sweden.