2010 Merano train derailment
Encyclopedia
The Merano derailment occurred on 12 April 2010 when a train derailed between Latsch
and Kastelbell
, near Merano, Italy
, after running into a landslide
, causing nine deaths and injuring 28 people.
(7:03 UTC
), a two passenger coach Stadler GTW
train, operated by STA Südtiroler, derailed in Kastelbell-Tschars after running into a landslide. Nine people died when the train derailed, and 28 others were injured, seven seriously.
The landslide which reportedly derailed the train is believed to have been caused by a burst irrigation pipe, or by a valve inadvertently left open. The train was on a regional service, travelling between Mals
and Merano, on the Vinschgau line, which reopened in 2005.
Italy's ANSA news agency said one of the train's three carriages was filled with mud from the landslide, and rescuers were digging frantically with shovels and pickaxes to try to reach the victims. A reporter for Sky Italia television said smoke was rising from the wreckage and helicopters were flying overhead.
The railway is equipped with advanced sensors to stop trains in case of landslides, but they couldn't operate because the mud fell at the moment that the train was passing.
An investigation is underway into why the irrigation pipe burst. The local aqueduct consortium denies the possibility that the landslide was caused by the pipe, as it is a small pipe (65 mm diameter), and was working perfectly until about 8:00 CEST.
Latsch
Latsch is a comune in the province of South Tyrol in the Italian region Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, located about northwest of the city of Trento and about northwest of the city of Bolzano.-Geography:...
and Kastelbell
Kastelbell-Tschars
Kastelbell-Tschars is a comune in South Tyrol in the Italian region Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, located about 70 km north of Trento and about 40 km northwest of Bolzano ....
, near Merano, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, after running into a landslide
Landslide
A landslide or landslip is a geological phenomenon which includes a wide range of ground movement, such as rockfalls, deep failure of slopes and shallow debris flows, which can occur in offshore, coastal and onshore environments...
, causing nine deaths and injuring 28 people.
Accident
At 9:03 local timeUTC+2
UTC+02 is an identifier for a time offset from UTC of +02. In ISO 8601 the associated time would be written as . This time is used in:-Central Africa Time:*Botswana*Burundi*Democratic Republic of the Congo...
(7:03 UTC
Coordinated Universal Time
Coordinated Universal Time is the primary time standard by which the world regulates clocks and time. It is one of several closely related successors to Greenwich Mean Time. Computer servers, online services and other entities that rely on having a universally accepted time use UTC for that purpose...
), a two passenger coach Stadler GTW
Stadler GTW
The Stadler GTW, sold by Stadler Rail of Switzerland, is an articulated railcar for local transport. GTW stands for Gelenktriebwagen .-Description:...
train, operated by STA Südtiroler, derailed in Kastelbell-Tschars after running into a landslide. Nine people died when the train derailed, and 28 others were injured, seven seriously.
The landslide which reportedly derailed the train is believed to have been caused by a burst irrigation pipe, or by a valve inadvertently left open. The train was on a regional service, travelling between Mals
Mals
Mals is a comune in South Tyrol in the Italian region Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, located about 80 km northwest of Trento and about 70 km northwest of Bolzano, on the border with Switzerland and Austria.-Geography:...
and Merano, on the Vinschgau line, which reopened in 2005.
Italy's ANSA news agency said one of the train's three carriages was filled with mud from the landslide, and rescuers were digging frantically with shovels and pickaxes to try to reach the victims. A reporter for Sky Italia television said smoke was rising from the wreckage and helicopters were flying overhead.
The railway is equipped with advanced sensors to stop trains in case of landslides, but they couldn't operate because the mud fell at the moment that the train was passing.
An investigation is underway into why the irrigation pipe burst. The local aqueduct consortium denies the possibility that the landslide was caused by the pipe, as it is a small pipe (65 mm diameter), and was working perfectly until about 8:00 CEST.