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Train Crash In Saltsjöbaden, Sweden, 2013.


On January 15, 2013, at 2:25 a.m. a train drove into a apartment building in Saltsjöbaden,
Stockholm. A person who was on the train was seriously injured but survived. The
material damage to the building and the train became extensive.


The train drove into the apartment building at the red square, street address Saltsjögränd 10.


Neglinge station. The depot handled 30 trains at night.

The train had been parked at the Neglinge station earlier this night. The railway operator Arriva Sverige AB has a depot which provides maintenance of the trains that are in traffic at the railway section Saltsjöbanan. A traffic management center is located in Neglinge. It was unmanned when the crash occurred. The weather for the current night was snowfall and -3° C. Under these conditions there was a risk of freezing of the trains' brakes when the trains were parked after the shift. To prevent freezing there was a system in use on certain tracks in the depot area. You then connected a power cable (24 V) to the train set. This power supply, along with a driver's cab procedure, enabled disconnecting the operating brake and the emergency brake. The brakes had no abutment to the wheels with this action and hence could not freeze. The system had a built-in security. If the train was to be rolled, the power cable would split and the power supply would be broken. The brakes were then activated automatically.

In the railway yard a serviceman worked. He was tasked with taking care of the trains that were handed over by the drivers who had completed their shift. He thought that the anti-freezing system would be used on the trains received during the current night. On track 3 the system was inoperative. He then resorted to a provisional solution to avoid freezing to the brakes. He activated the cab and put the train in operating mode.


Lock and activation knob. After the crash, the cab was investigated. The
activation knob then was in "operation" mode. A so-called control key was
used to lock the knob. It was still in the lock after the crash.

The driver's seat has a driver's control system  with several controls in the form of two foot pedals and a driving lever, of which at least one must be held in a activated position to let the brakes to be released and driving possible.



Control panel. To the right, (with a red ring around it) the lever (also known as the safety
handle) is shown. The driving lever has four power modes: 0, 1, 2 and 3. After the crash,
the lever was in position 3, ie. full power pace.

 
Control panel - doors.                     No brake block was found in the cab after the crash.

The seviceman has stated that he:
1. Influenced the drive lever with a brake block. The brake block was placed against the driving lever in such a way that a minor vibration or similar would have caused the block to fall off and the brakes would turn on.
2. Set the driving lever to full effect mode.
3. Folded the driver's seat to hold the brake block in place.
4. Set the doors to "passenger open" ("pass-open" mode)

My comment:
The arrangement was intended to prevent freezing of the brakes. Due to the alleged activation of the driving lever, the brakes had no abutment to the wheels. In the "pass-open" mode of the passenger doors, you could not get a power boost with the driving lever. In this situation, however, it was enough to close the passenger doors to provide a power boost through the driving lever. The arrangement was contrary to the railway operator's regulations. In strict lawful terms, the serviceman had committed a misconduct. However, he was never charged for responsibility.

The Cleaning Lady
Sara, 22, worked as a Cleaning Lady for the Caretia Cleaning Company. This was the company that was responsible for the cleaning of the carriages at the Neglinge depot. Usually the carriages were cleaned at night time. Sarah was hired in December 2012.



In her education to serve at the Neglinge depot, she had a preview of some of the controls and functions in the cab that are important for the cleaning work. She had been instructed by Caretia's supervisor using a L-key to enter the cab and the doors between the carriages, and a T-key to open, close and control all passenger doors. The cleaners had no access to the control key. The control key is the key required to open the activation knob (see image above).

During this night she worked alone at the depot. The colleague she usually worked with worked on Roslagsbanan because there was a lack of staff there due to sick leave. During the cleaning work, the servicemen could move the trains shorter stretches. The cleaning work continued on these moves. She met the serviceman who was responsible for the train at track 3. They spoke to each other on a limited extent during the night. He did not inform about the arrangement he had taken in the cab. The servicemen usually facilitate the work of the cleaners by unlocking the doors between the carriages. Then they usually call out that "pass-opening" is on. The passenger doors can then be opened individually by the cleaner. The gravel can be swept out through the doorway. When the cleaning work was finished, Sara put out the floor mop on the staircase leading up to the cab. The serviceman had previously entered the depot to carry out some administrative work. As a last step in the cleaning procedure, the Cleaning Lady will check that the passenger doors would close as they should. This is done via a control panel in the cab (see picture, panel - door control above). When Sara checked the door closure, the train started rolling.

Sara, who was badly injured in the crash, has only weak memories of it. She has stated that she tried to turn the control key at the activation knob to stop the train set. It did not help. It was also impossible to open the doors. She has given an interview to the newspaper SEKO. Here you can read it:

https://sekotidningen.se/nyhet/forstar-att-det-kommer-ga-at-helvete/     (all in Swedish).

The Crash.
When the serviceman returned to the railway yard, he discovered that the train on track 3 was gone. He first thought that a train driver had arrived early and launched the train. However, this did not fit in time. He noted that the rail's juncion was put in direction to the main track and not, as usual, towards the depots maintenance premises. He also saw that the cleaner's floor mop and bucket remained at track 3. He then alerted his supervisor who went to Neglinge right away. The serviceman called on the train over the radio but received no response. He then realized that there was no one in the traffic management. Then he heard police sirens and saw that the fire brigade was heading towards Saltsjöbaden.

The crash site in Saltsjöbaden is located approximately 1700 m south of the Neglinge station. The train set consisted of four carriages. The train started rolling at 02:23:55 a.m.. It was put on the main track leading to Saltsjöbaden. The speed increased gradually. When the train crashed at 02:25:35 a.m. in Saltsjöbaden the speed was 80 km / h. The crash became violent. The four carriages represented a considerable amount of motion energy. Where the rail ended, there was a stopper mounted.


View of the crash site before the crash. The end of the rail was at the yellow stopper. From that
point to the apartment building on the left the distance is about 30 m.


View of the crash site.


The train penetrated several meters into the corner apartment that was at the ground floor.
The residents of the house were evacuated to a nearby hotel facility.


When the rescue team arrived, Sara was found in the passenger compartment clamped to a
wall towards the cab. They had to cut her loose - an operation that took about 3 hours.

Media.
The news of the "train accident" gained worldwide attention. Media quickly featured the information that a Cleaning Lady had stolen a train and then drove it into a residential building. On January 16, 2013, Aftonbladet writes:

"A 22-year-old Cleaning Lady yesterday drove a train straight into a residential building in Saltsjöbaden. The event became world news."

In the name of the truth, it should be mentioned that it was not only Aftonbladet to uncritically swallow the Nazi lies. I have searched and found a number of links on the Internet that relate to the event. In most cases, the news papers have deleted their articles. Well, you could consider this cleaning work as a light in the darkness.

The Investigation Commission.
A Investigation Commission has submitted its report on the 5^th of May, 2014. The Commission's survey results are as follows:

a) The railway staff had the necessary qualifications.
b) No technical malfunction of the vehicle or track system has been found.
c) Arriva Sverige AB had recently taken over operations on Saltsjöbanan.
d) The weather conditions at the time caused a risk of freezing of the brakes.
e) The anti-freezing system at track 3 at the depot in Neglinge was out of order. Some routines or supervisory directives dealing with how this situation would be handled were not available.
f) An alternative way of loosening the brakes was used. It did not follow operational routines and had not been anchored within the management.
g) The train, with its loose brakes, was left unattended with the contol key left in the driver's cab.
h) It is technically possible to arrange relevant controls so that the current vehicle type is brought into motion only by centrally closing the doors from the cab.
i) Central door closure was a common occurrence when the cleaning was finalized.
j) The train came in motion when the Cleaning Lady, who was alone on board, was finishing the cleaning.
k) The rail's junction was put in such a way that the vehicle's approach was taken out on the main track towards Saltsjöbaden.
l) The brakes have not been activated before the collision with the stopper in Saltsjöbaden.
m) The stopper did not prevent the vehicle's approach from colliding with the apartment building.
n) The rescue effort was carried out in a qualified manner with the removal of a person, taking in account the particular risks for the collapse of the building.
o) It took over three hours before the Cleaning Lady could be removed from the wreck.

Here you can download the Commission's report:  RJ2014_03.pdf        (2 MB, all in Swedish)


A safety barrier has replaced the stopper at Saltsjögränd 10.

My comment:
The train crash in Saltsjöbaden was a well-planned Nazi terrorist act. When I compare the approach, I conclude that the same offenders are behind all the "accidents" way back to the the 80's, and as I present in this blog. This also applies to an international comparison because the terrorist network is internationally branched.