Soure train crash
Photograph of the train involved
Unit 4005, the train involved in the accident
Details
Date31 July 2020 (2020-07-31)
15:26
LocationSoure
Coordinates40°03′28″N 8°38′18″W / 40.05778°N 8.63833°W / 40.05778; -8.63833
CountryPortugal
LineLinha do Norte
OperatorComboios de Portugal / Infraestruturas de Portugal
ServiceLisbon - Braga
Incident typeCollision
CauseHuman error (SPAD)[1]
Statistics
Trains2
Passengers212
Crew2 (VCC) + 2 (passenger train)
Deaths2 (in the VCC)
Injured44

The Soure train crash occurred on 31 July 2020 when a high-speed passenger train collided with a track maintenance vehicle at Soure, Portugal. Two people were killed and 44 were injured, three seriously.

Accident

On the day of the accident, the maintenance vehicle (Portuguese: Veículo de Conservação de Catenária - VCC) No. 105, belonging to Infraestruturas de Portugal, was circulating between Entroncamento and Mangualde with two crew members on board while not carrying out maintenance.[2] Around 15:12, it stopped at a Soure station siding, to allow Alfa Pendular train 4005 to overtake it.[3] The Alfa Pendular train was travelling from Lisbon to Braga, calling at Coimbra and Oporto.[4]

The crew of the maintenance vehicle likely mistook the green signal meant for the Alfa Pendular train as applying to the siding it was stopped at,[5]: 15  and the vehicle resumed its course at 15:25, passing a red signal and entering track I, which would soon be occupied by train 4005.[2] As the track became occupied by the maintenance vehicle, the track I signal changed to red and the Alfa Pendular's brakes were activated, but due to the short distance between the two vehicles, this was not sufficient to avoid the collision, which happened around 15:26, about 20 seconds after the maintenance vehicle entered the line.[2]

Due to the violence of the collision, the first two carriages were derailed and the maintenance vehicle was dragged for some 500 meters, after which both vehicles came to a halt.[2][6] The passenger train was travelling at 190 kilometres per hour (120 mph) at the time of the collision.[4]

The alert was given some short minutes after the crash, and fire brigades from surrounding cities responded. The rescue operations were backed by 225 first responders and 85 emergency vehicles, as well as 2 helicopters.[7]

Two people were killed and 44 were injured, three seriously.[8] The two casualties were the crew members aboard the maintenance vehicle.[9] The Alfa Pendular train was severely damaged and VCC No. 105 was destroyed.[10] Two rescue helicopters and 163 rescue personnel were sent to the scene,[4] where a field hospital was established.[10] That section of the Linha do Norte was suspended and Comboios de Portugal organized a rail replacement bus during the time the track was closed.[11] Circulation on the southbound track resumed at 01:45 on the 2nd of August, 2020, with heavy speed restrictions. At 09:00 of the same day, the northbound track was reopened.[12]

Investigation and aftermath

VCC No. 106, similar to that involved in the accident.

The Gabinete de Prevenção e Investigação de Acidentes com Aeronaves e de Acidentes Ferroviários (GPIAAF) opened an investigation into the accident.[13] The investigation's final report was released on 29 September 2021.[5]

In the wake of this accident, the absence of automatic train protection (ATP) in maintenance vehicles was scrutinized.[9] It came to light that, in 2018, after several events where such vehicles passed signals at danger, GPIAAF recommended that IP reassess the possibility of equipping these vehicles with ATP and act to ensure train driving qualifications of their maintenance staff.[14] IP agreed to install ATP, but this was met with difficulties in sourcing CONVEL-compatible equipment from Bombardier.[14][15]

While the suspected cause is human error — the driver passing the signal at danger — ATP would have prevented this accident by braking the maintenance vehicle.[1] Its incursion into the reserved block was, however, detected by the track circuit and signals were updated accordingly, but the passenger train had already passed the previous signal and balise, and proceeded at top speed expecting a clear track ahead.[13]

References

  1. 1 2 "Erro humano causou acidente com Alfa Pendular em Soure. Operadores da máquina passaram o sinal vermelho" [Human error caused accident with Alfa Pendular in Soure. Machine operators passed the red light] (in Portuguese). Público. 1 August 2020. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Veículo abalroado pelo Alfa passou sinal vermelho em Soure". Jornal de Notícias. 1 August 2020. Retrieved 2 August 2020.
  3. ↑ "Soure: Veículo de Conservação de Catenária passou sinal vermelho". Notícias de Leiria. 1 August 2020. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
  4. 1 2 3 "Coimbra train crash: Two dead after train derails in Portugal". BBC News Online. 31 July 2020. Retrieved 1 August 2020.
  5. 1 2 "Collision of trains at Soure station, on 31 July 2020 - Safety Investigation Final Report" (PDF) (in European Portuguese and English). Gabinete de Prevenção e Investigação de Acidentes com Aeronaves e de Acidentes Ferroviários. 29 September 2021. Retrieved 16 December 2021.
  6. ↑ Lusa (31 July 2020). "Alfa/Acidente: Vítimas mortais no descarrilamento em Soure eram trabalhadores da REFER". Retrieved 31 July 2020.
  7. ↑ "Imagens de drone mostram dimensão do acidente com alfa pendular em Soure - Portugal". Correio da Manhã. Retrieved 2021-08-01.
  8. ↑ "Relatório final da investigação à colisão de comboio Alfa Pendular com veículo de manutenção na estação de Soure, em 31-07-2020" [Final report of the investigation into the collision of an Alfa Pendular train with a maintenance vehicle at Soure station, on 31-07-2020] (in Portuguese). Gabinete de Prevenção e Investigação de Acidentes com Aeronaves e de Acidentes Ferroviários - GPIAAF. 1 October 2021. Retrieved 5 September 2023.
  9. 1 2 "Dois mortos em acidente com alfa pendular na zona de Soure" [Two killed in accident with alfa pendular in the Soure area]. SIC Notícias. 31 July 2020. Retrieved 10 August 2020.
  10. 1 2 Speare-Cole, Rebecca (31 July 2020). "Portugal train crash: Two dead and at least 37 injured as high-speed train collides with maintenance vehicle". The Evening Standard. Retrieved 1 August 2020.
  11. ↑ CAMPOS, João Pedro (31 July 2020). "Identificadas as vítimas do acidente com o Alfa Pendular em Soure". Jornal de Notícias. Retrieved 1 August 2020.
  12. ↑ "Acidente da Linha do Norte - Comunicado". Infraestruturas de Portugal. 3 August 2020. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
  13. 1 2 "NOTA INFORMATIVA DE ACIDENTE" [Notice informing of accident] (in Portuguese). Gabinete de Prevenção e Investigação de Acidentes com Aeronaves e de Acidentes Ferroviários - GPIAAF. 31 July 2020. Retrieved 1 August 2020.
  14. 1 2 Lusa. "IP comprometeu-se há dois anos instalar sistema CONVEL em Veículos de Conservação de Catenária" [IP committed two years ago to install CONVEL system in Catenary Conservation Vehicles] (in Portuguese). RTP. Retrieved 10 August 2020.
  15. ↑ Carlos Cipriano (8 August 2020). "IP diz que monopólio europeu travou solução que evitava acidente de Soure" [IP says European monopoly hampered solution that could have prevented the Soure accident] (in Portuguese). Público. Retrieved 10 August 2020. (Subscription required.)
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