Gov't focused more on keeping rail usable during work, not safety in Voorschoten crash
During railworks, the Dutch government “focuses too one-sidedly on the availability of the track” and too little on the safety of rail workers, the Dutch Safety Board (OVV) concluded after an extensive analysis of the train accident at Voorschoten on 4 April 2023.
During the early hours of April 4, a crane crossed a train track that was in service during planned railworks. A freight train and a passenger train hit the crane, killing the crane operator and injuring around 30 people on the trains. The accident caused enormous damage.
The OVV could not conclusively determine the direct cause of the accident. However, it did conclude that maintenance happening while trains continued to drive past the work played a role. “Workers had to cross tracks that were in service to get to their work location,” the OVV said. Workers were also dependent on “error-prone oral communication” for information on when and how they could cross active tracks.
According to the OVV, the Ministry of Infrastructure and Environment is too focused on keeping train tracks accessible for the transport of passengers and goods during maintenance and other railworks. “That is the wrong incentive. Interests such as working safely, limiting the dangers of night work, and learning from accidents, therefore, receive insufficient attention,” the OVV said.
“The Dutch railway is among the safest in the world. Yet too often, things go wrong or almost go wrong on the track,” OVV chairman Chris van Dam said. “We have to learn from that.”
The OVV recommended that the railway sector “put much more effort” into registering and analyzing accidents and near misses. ProRail should also pay more attention to the additional safety risks associated with railworks at night, “especially when awarding contracts to contractors, subcontractors, and collaborating parties.”
Extra special attention should be paid to freelancers here. “The OVV’s investigation shows that they are used excessively” on night shifts in the sector, partly because they are not covered by the Working Hours Act.
