The Pretoria train accident occurred on 21 April 2010 when a train of carriages ran away for 12 miles (19.3 km) from Centurion Station

Centurion, Gauteng

Centurion is an area with 279,430 inhabitants in Gauteng Province of South Africa, located between Pretoria and Midrand . Formerly an independent municipality, with its own town council, it is now part of the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality...

 and derailed at Pretoria

Pretoria

Pretoria is a city located in the northern part of Gauteng Province, South Africa. It is one of the country's three capital cities, serving as the executive and de facto national capital; the others are Cape Town, the legislative capital, and Bloemfontein, the judicial capital.Pretoria is...

. Three people were killed and seven were seriously injured.

History

On 21 April 2010, a luxury tourist train operated by Rovos Rail

Rovos Rail

Rovos Rail is a private railway company operating out of Capital Park Station in Pretoria, South Africa. The Society of International Railway Travelers has regularly named the Pride of Africa, as the train is called, as one of the World's Top 25 Trains because of its excellent accommodation, public...

 was at Centurion Station where the electric locomotive

Electric locomotive

An electric locomotive is a locomotive powered by electricity from overhead lines, a third rail or an on-board energy storage device...

 was being changed for a Class 25NC 4-8-4

4-8-4

Under the Whyte notation classification of steam locomotives, 4-8-4 represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles , eight powered and coupled driving wheels on four axles, and four trailing wheels on two axles .Other equivalent classifications are:UIC classification: 2D2...

 steam locomotive

Steam locomotive

A steam locomotive is a railway locomotive that produces its power through a steam engine. These locomotives are fueled by burning some combustible material, usually coal, wood or oil, to produce steam in a boiler, which drives the steam engine...

. During the changeover, the carriages ran away out of control for 12 miles (19.3 km) until they derailed at Pretoria. The accident occurred outside the Blue Train

Blue Train (South Africa)

The Blue Train travels an approximately journey in South Africa between Pretoria and Cape Town. It is one of the most luxurious train journeys in the world...

 depot. There were 59 passengers and three train crew on board the carriages. Three of the train crew were killed, and about R15,000,000

South African rand

The rand is the currency of South Africa. It takes its name from the Witwatersrand , the ridge upon which Johannesburg is built and where most of South Africa's gold deposits were found. The rand has the symbol "R" and is subdivided into 100 cents, symbol "c"...

 (£1,338,000

Pound sterling

The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...

) of damage was done to the carriages.

Investigation

The South African authorities opened an investigation into the accident. A board of enquiry was set up. Metrorail

Metrorail (South Africa)

Metrorail is an operator of commuter rail services in the major urban areas of South Africa. It is a division of the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa , a state-owned enterprise which is responsible for most passenger rail services in South Africa...

and the South African Railway Safety Regulator were represented on the board of enquiry. An initial assessment of the cause of the accident was that the uncoupled carriages had insufficient braking power to prevent the runaway. It is reported that the handbrakes on the carriages had not been applied. As the train was not on level track, scotches were also required to be placed under the wheels of the carriages.