https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-65170980

At least one person has been killed and about 30 injured - some seriously -
after a passenger train derailed in the western Netherlands.

Emergency services say the overnight crash happened after the train
transporting about 50 people hit construction equipment near the village of
Voorschoten.

Earlier reports had said this followed a collision with a freight train.

Rescuers and medics are now working on the scene, helping the injured.

The crash happened at about 03:25 local time (01:25 GMT) on Tuesday.

Pictures from the scene showed overturned carriages and a plume of smoke
rising in the night sky.

Several ambulances were seen standing ready to transport the injured.

In their latest update, the emergency services say those seriously injured
have been taken to nearby hospitals, while 11 people are being treated in
the houses of local residents.

Officials from the Dutch Safety Board, a body that conducts independent
investigations into accidents, have been dispatched to the crash scene.

Voorschoten lies between The Hague and Amsterdam.

The NRC newspaper reported that no trains were currently running between
The Hague and Leiden because of the crash.

In message <u0gfhb$3auof$5@dont-email.me>, at 06:19:23 on Tue, 4 Apr
2023, Recliner <recliner.usenet@gmail.com> remarked:
>
>https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-65170980
>
>At least one person has been killed and about 30 injured - some seriously -
>after a passenger train derailed in the western Netherlands.
>
>Emergency services say the overnight crash happened after the train
>transporting about 50 people hit construction equipment near the village of
>Voorschoten.
>
>Earlier reports had said this followed a collision with a freight train.
>
>Rescuers and medics are now working on the scene, helping the injured.
>
>The crash happened at about 03:25 local time (01:25 GMT) on Tuesday.

Although we are now on BST, so quoting GMT isn't especially helpful of
The Times.

On the other hand, when I was globetrotting, and organising telephone
conferences, we always timed them in GMT (and I had a wristwatch with
two readouts expressly for this - one for GMT and one for whatever the
local time was, this week that'd be BST in the UK)). And still some
people would phone in an hour late or an hour early.

Reminds me how the thing which introduced a standardised time across the
UK was the need to publish train timetables, all to the same clock
whether you were in London, Penzance, or Wick.

Although the most southerly station was <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H
elston_railway_station>

Most westerly by a smidgeon[1] on the mainland is still operating:
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arisaig_railway_station>.

[1] https://goo.gl/maps/FGuffkQKGYphhQVC6

>Pictures from the scene showed overturned carriages and a plume of smoke
>rising in the night sky.
>
>Several ambulances were seen standing ready to transport the injured.
>
>In their latest update, the emergency services say those seriously injured
>have been taken to nearby hospitals, while 11 people are being treated in
>the houses of local residents.
>
>Officials from the Dutch Safety Board, a body that conducts independent
>investigations into accidents, have been dispatched to the crash scene.
>
>Voorschoten lies between The Hague and Amsterdam.
>
>The NRC newspaper reported that no trains were currently running between
>The Hague and Leiden because of the crash.

--
Roland Perry

Roland Perry <roland@perry.uk> wrote:
> In message <u0gfhb$3auof$5@dont-email.me>, at 06:19:23 on Tue, 4 Apr
> 2023, Recliner <recliner.usenet@gmail.com> remarked:
>>
>> https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-65170980
>>
>> At least one person has been killed and about 30 injured - some seriously -
>> after a passenger train derailed in the western Netherlands.
>>
>> Emergency services say the overnight crash happened after the train
>> transporting about 50 people hit construction equipment near the village of
>> Voorschoten.
>>
>> Earlier reports had said this followed a collision with a freight train.
>>
>> Rescuers and medics are now working on the scene, helping the injured.
>>
>> The crash happened at about 03:25 local time (01:25 GMT) on Tuesday.
>
> Although we are now on BST, so quoting GMT isn't especially helpful of
> The Times.
>
> On the other hand, when I was globetrotting, and organising telephone
> conferences, we always timed them in GMT (and I had a wristwatch with
> two readouts expressly for this - one for GMT and one for whatever the
> local time was, this week that'd be BST in the UK)). And still some
> people would phone in an hour late or an hour early.
>
I expect the Times picked up a Reuters or similar report. Since these go
around the world stating time in GMT makes sense. GMT, or more exactly UTC,
is commonly used for time stamping science data, regardless of where on the
planet (or solar system) it is collected.

On 04/04/2023 07:19, Recliner wrote:

> Earlier reports had said this followed a collision with a freight train.

This isn't untrue. You can see the freight train in some of the media
reports. It looks like the freight train hit a rail-mounted crane which
then passed into the path of the passenger train.

Ta,
--
Rob
"I have never understood why it should be necessary to become irrational
in order to prove that you care, or, indeed, why it should be necessary
to prove it at all." - Avon, Blake's 7

In message <u0gt3b$3cr5d$1@dont-email.me>, at 10:10:51 on Tue, 4 Apr
2023, Tweed <usenet.tweed@gmail.com> remarked:
>Roland Perry <roland@perry.uk> wrote:
>> In message <u0gfhb$3auof$5@dont-email.me>, at 06:19:23 on Tue, 4 Apr
>> 2023, Recliner <recliner.usenet@gmail.com> remarked:
>>>
>>> https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-65170980
>>>
>>> At least one person has been killed and about 30 injured - some seriously -
>>> after a passenger train derailed in the western Netherlands.
>>>
>>> Emergency services say the overnight crash happened after the train
>>> transporting about 50 people hit construction equipment near the village of
>>> Voorschoten.
>>>
>>> Earlier reports had said this followed a collision with a freight train.
>>>
>>> Rescuers and medics are now working on the scene, helping the injured.
>>>
>>> The crash happened at about 03:25 local time (01:25 GMT) on Tuesday.
>>
>> Although we are now on BST, so quoting GMT isn't especially helpful of
>> The Times.
>>
>> On the other hand, when I was globetrotting, and organising telephone
>> conferences, we always timed them in GMT (and I had a wristwatch with
>> two readouts expressly for this - one for GMT and one for whatever the
>> local time was, this week that'd be BST in the UK)). And still some
>> people would phone in an hour late or an hour early.
>>
>I expect the Times picked up a Reuters or similar report. Since these go
>around the world stating time in GMT makes sense.

Sky managed to sub-edit it for their UK audience.

>GMT, or more exactly UTC, is commonly used for time stamping science
>data, regardless of where on the planet (or solar system) it is
>collected.

Don't get me started on UTC (of the various flavours) - I was once the
guardian of an atomic clock Stratum Zero ntp server, which we installed
in Docklands; and just for lolz, as far as we could determine in the
right building to be within a few feet of the Meridian.

https://goo.gl/maps/CobspVhQy5AXZ8mb7

Anyway, if one of our teleconference buddies called in a second early or
late because they'd misplaced a leap second, I don't think anyone would
have noticed.
--
Roland Perry

In message <k92nfdF57n6U1@mid.individual.net>, at 14:36:45 on Tue, 4 Apr
2023, Robert <monstoor@spammedia.com> remarked:
>On 04/04/2023 07:19, Recliner wrote:
>
>> Earlier reports had said this followed a collision

Not involving the passenger train, you are saying.

>>with a freight train.
>
>This isn't untrue. You can see the freight train in some of the media
>reports. It looks like the freight train hit a rail-mounted crane which
>then passed into the path of the passenger train.
>
>Ta,

--
Roland Perry

On Tue, 4 Apr 2023 15:14:00 +0100, Roland Perry <roland@perry.uk> wrote:

>In message <k92nfdF57n6U1@mid.individual.net>, at 14:36:45 on Tue, 4 Apr
>2023, Robert <monstoor@spammedia.com> remarked:
>>On 04/04/2023 07:19, Recliner wrote:
>>
>>> Earlier reports had said this followed a collision
>
>Not involving the passenger train, you are saying.

It was a rail-mounted crane that was supposed to be on one of the two tracks not in use. It's not yet clear why the
trains collided with it. The passenger train driver was hurt, but not the goods train driver. Perhaps the passenger
train collided with some part of the crane that was obstructing the live track, derailed, and side-swiped a freight
train on the other running line? The dead person worked for the BAM construction company and appears to have been a
track worker.

I'm impressed with how well the passenger carriages have retained their shape.

Recliner <recliner.usenet@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Tue, 4 Apr 2023 15:14:00 +0100, Roland Perry <roland@perry.uk> wrote:
>
>> In message <k92nfdF57n6U1@mid.individual.net>, at 14:36:45 on Tue, 4 Apr
>> 2023, Robert <monstoor@spammedia.com> remarked:
>>> On 04/04/2023 07:19, Recliner wrote:
>>>
>>>> Earlier reports had said this followed a collision
>>
>> Not involving the passenger train, you are saying.
>
> It was a rail-mounted crane that was supposed to be on one of the two
> tracks not in use. It's not yet clear why the
> trains collided with it. The passenger train driver was hurt, but not the
> goods train driver. Perhaps the passenger
> train collided with some part of the crane that was obstructing the live
> track, derailed, and side-swiped a freight
> train on the other running line? The dead person worked for the BAM
> construction company and appears to have been a
> track worker.
>
> I'm impressed with how well the passenger carriages have retained their shape.
>

https://www.dutchnews.nl/news/2023/04/one-person-dead-around-30-injured-after-train-comes-off-rails-in-crash/

A building site worker has died and 19 passengers were taken to hospital
after a train collided with a construction crane on the rail line near The
Hague. An NS Intercity train was derailed in the crash in the village of
Voorschoten which happened at around 3.30am on Tuesday, minutes after a
passing goods train hit the crane. Three carriages of the NS train were
derailed, two of which slid down an embankment and landed in a field. The
regional safety board for Hollands-Midden said around 50 people were on
board the passenger train, which was travelling from the Leiden direction,
and confirmed one of the victims had died in the collision at around 3.30am
on Tuesday.

Construction company BAM said one of its employees had died as a result of
the crash. BAM was carrying out scheduled maintenance work on rail lines
running parallel to the line on which the trains were travelling. At least
one of the carriages caught fire and a section of overhead cable came down
and landed on top of the train. Firefighters had to make the cabling safe
before people on board could be rescued. Some passengers climbed through
windows to escape. An emergency hospital was set up in Utrecht to treat 19
victims, while around 20 more received treatment at the scene. Two people
who were seriously injured have been transferred to the LUMC hospital in
Leiden, a spokeswoman for the hospital said. Ten victims were discharged
after treatment by midday. The driver of the passenger train sustained
multiple fractures and is recovering in hospital, NS director Wouter
Koolmees confirmed at a press conference.

The driver of the goods train was examined at the scene before being
allowed to go home, operator DB Cargo said. Leiden’s central station was
closed on Tuesday morning amid concern about overcrowding. Voorschoten
station was also closed.

One of the passengers, 20-year-old Anwar Akrouh, told NOS: ‘It was like a
film. The lights went out, it went dark, people were trying to get out of
the train. I saw three people injured, somebody screamed, it was the
driver. ‘I helped someone who was in a lot of pain. We called 112 and the
emergency services arrived within 10 minutes. It was incredibly intense.’
Two witnesses who live next to the rail line said the goods train hit the
crane first, followed shortly afterwards by the passenger train. ‘It was a
huge bang. We heard metal tearing,’ said one of the witnesses, named as
Dennis. ‘It left the platform in pieces and we think the passenger train
must have grazed the platform and then hit the crane.’

‘Tragic accident’ The mayor of Voorschoten, Nadine Stemerdinck, said: ‘This
is an incredibly tragic accident. My heart goes out to the victims. Sadly
one fatality has been confirmed. My thoughts go out to all friends and
relatives of those involved in this incident.’ NS and track operator
ProRail said specialist teams were inspecting the scene and no trains would
run to or from Leiden until at least 4pm. Replacement transport has been
arranged.

The safety council will lead the investigation into the crash. Police said
they would also assess if there was any basis for bringing criminal charges
and report their findings to the prosecution service. The director of NS,
Wouter Koolmees, said the incident would be investigated thoroughly. ‘Like
everybody else I have a lot of questions and we want to know exactly what
happened,’ he said. Koolmees also thanked local residents who sheltered
victims of the crash in the immediate aftermath.

ProRail CEO John Foppen said the crane was being used on two rail lines
that were closed for scheduled maintenance work, parallel to the lines the
trains were travelling on. The investigation will focus on how the crane
came to be on an active line, Foppen said. ‘I’ve worked on the rails for 17
years and never seen anything like this.’

Recliner <recliner.usenet@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Tue, 4 Apr 2023 15:14:00 +0100, Roland Perry <roland@perry.uk> wrote:
>
>> In message <k92nfdF57n6U1@mid.individual.net>, at 14:36:45 on Tue, 4 Apr
>> 2023, Robert <monstoor@spammedia.com> remarked:
>>> On 04/04/2023 07:19, Recliner wrote:
>>>
>>>> Earlier reports had said this followed a collision
>>
>> Not involving the passenger train, you are saying.
>
> It was a rail-mounted crane that was supposed to be on one of the two
> tracks not in use. It's not yet clear why the
> trains collided with it. The passenger train driver was hurt, but not the
> goods train driver. Perhaps the passenger
> train collided with some part of the crane that was obstructing the live
> track, derailed, and side-swiped a freight
> train on the other running line? The dead person worked for the BAM
> construction company and appears to have been a
> track worker.
>
> I'm impressed with how well the passenger carriages have retained their shape.

The leading cab - very obvious in the aerial shot the BBC are mainly using
- looks badly crushed but maybe there’s sacrificial material outside an
inner structure. It must have protected the driver fairly well since s/he
wasn’t the person killed.

Sam

--
The entity formerly known as Sam.Wilson@ed.ac.uk
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