Oss rail accident

The Oss railway accident happened on 20 September 2018 when a passenger train collided with a Stint cart on a level crossing at Oss, North Brabant, Netherlands. Four children on the cart were killed, and two were seriously injured. Stint carts were subsequently banned from use on public roads in the Netherlands. An investigation into the cause of the accident is ongoing.

Oss rail accident
NS FLIRT train #2201 photographed in 2016
Details
Date20 September 2018
08:30 CEST (06:30 UTC)
LocationOss, Noord-Brabant
Coordinates51.75859°N 5.50757°E / 51.75859; 5.50757
CountryNetherlands
LineProRail Tilburg–Nijmegen railway
OperatorNederlandse Spoorwegen
Statistics
Trains1
Deaths4
Injured2

Accident

On 20 September 2018 a passenger train was involved in a level crossing collision at Oss, near Nijmegen in the Southern part of the Netherlands. Four children were killed, with two further serious injuries; one a child and one adult.[1]

Stint child transport and operator stand

The infrastructure operator of the rail line, ProRail, started an investigation into the accident.[2] The children involved had been travelling to school in a Stint cargo bike-style electrically-powered cart.[3] Initial reports from the scene reported that the barriers and level crossing lights were working correctly.[4]

The Braakstraat level crossing at Oss West railway station has been the location of six accidents since 1975.[3] The seven-car Stadler FLIRT train was operating passenger service 6722 which had departed from Den Bosch ('s-Hertogenbosch) at 08:12 towards Oss.[5]

Responses

The head of Nederlandse Spoorwegen, CEO Roger van Boxtel travelled back early from the InnoTrans rail exhibition in Berlin.[5]

On 21 September 2018 the child care organisation that operated the Stint temporarily halted the use of the transporters, awaiting the findings of the investigation.[6] Some other child care organisations in the Netherlands also paused the use of Stint transporters.[7][8]

On 1 October, Minister for Infrastructure and Water Management Cora van Nieuwenhuizen banned Stint vehicles from public roads in the Netherlands,[9] a move described as unjustified by Edwin Renzer, owner of Stint Urban Mobility.[10] On 29 October, Stint Urban Mobility filed for bankruptcy.[11]

Investigation

Oss West station and the train were both fitted with closed-circuit television cameras, enabling this footage to be used during the investigation.[8] On 23 September 2018, De Telegraaf reported that the investigation included the possibility of electromagnetic interference from the level crossing equipment affecting the electrical control system of the Stint.[12] In July 2019, it was reported that the driver of the Stint cart had been found not to have been at fault.[13]

See also

References
  1. "Children in cart killed in Dutch rail crash". BBC News. 20 September 2018. Retrieved 20 September 2018.
  2. Osborne, Samuel (20 September 2018). "Four children killed after bicycle carrying them hit by train in the Netherlands". The Independent. Retrieved 20 September 2018.
  3. Agence France-Presse (20 September 2018). "Four children killed after Dutch train hits daycare cargo bike". The Telegraph. Retrieved 20 September 2018.
  4. Morris, James (20 September 2018). "Four children killed as train smashes into trailer bike in Netherlands". Evening Standard. Retrieved 20 September 2018.
  5. Nederlandse Spoorwegen (20 September 2018). "Gedachten bij slachtoffers Oss" [Thoughts for the victims in Oss]. NS website (in Dutch). Retrieved 21 September 2018. 's-Hertogenbosch, A 08:03 - V 08:12; rit 6722; richting Oss; lengte: 7 delen; treinstel: 2201, 2515; materieel: Flirt
  6. "Kinderopvang Partou stopt voorlopig met gebruik Stint" [Partou child care temporaily stops using Stint]. RTV Utrecht (in Dutch). 21 September 2018. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
  7. "'Er wordt licht gedacht over Stints'" ['There is starting to be considerations about the Stints']. Nederlandse Omroep Stichting (in Dutch). 20 September 2018. Retrieved 21 September 2018. Kinderopvang Bambino is één van de organisaties die onmiddellijk gestopt is met het gebruik van de Stints
  8. Pieters, Janene (21 September 2018). "Childcare organizations stop using electric cargo bikes after fatal rail accident". NL Times. Retrieved 21 September 2018. train involved in the accident is equipped with cameras on the front. The police are looking at the footage from these cameras, as well as from cameras at the nearby Oss West station.
  9. Pieters, Janene (2018-10-02). "Minister bans Stints from public roads after fatal train crash". NL Times. Retrieved 2 October 2018.
  10. Pieters, Janene (2018-10-02). "Stint ban from public roads unjustified, manufacturer says". NL Times. Retrieved 2 October 2018.
  11. "Electric wagon maker files for bankruptcy in wake of fatal crash". Dutch News. Retrieved 29 October 2018.
  12. "Onderzoek naar invloed straling op ramp-Stint" [Investigation in the involvement of radiation in Stint-disaster]. De Telegraaf (in Dutch). 23 September 2018. Retrieved 24 September 2018. De Inspectie Leefomgeving en Transport (ILT) gaat onderzoeken of de elektromagnetische straling van de spoorweginstallatie in Oss de elektrisch aangedreven Stint heeft beïnvloed.
  13. Pieters, Janine. "Driver not to blame in Stint accident that killed four kids". NL Times. Retrieved 4 July 2019.
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