Second black box found after crash
Source: Agencies |
February 19, 2010, Friday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
RAILWAY workers have found the second black box from this week's deadly train collision in Belgium - a crash EU officials said shows the need for Europe to quickly install a fail-safe signaling system across its patchwork of rail networks.
The two black box data recorders could shed light on why one commuter train apparently ran a red light on Monday and collided with another as it was shifting to a merging track.
Work crews began separating the two trains yesterday, three days after they collided near Brussels.
The wreck highlighted the lagging efforts by national railroads to stitch together about 20 incompatible systems into a unified computer-driven signaling network with an automatic breaking system.
The stretch of line where the accident occurred will not be upgraded for another four years, though it is one of the choke points where Europe's high-speed trains share tracks with local traffic, officials said.
Eurostar said it is running a reduced service to Brussels until Monday morning and that trains from London will only be running to Lille, France, where passengers are transferred to buses for Brussels. It said other high-speed Thalys and TGV trains from France are also suspended until the track has been cleared.
The accident happened 15 kilometers south of Brussels. There were 18 known deaths, but more bodies may be found, national railways spokesman Jochen Goovaerts said. Another 171 people were injured.
Police have yet to question the one driver who survived the crash and is recovering from serious injuries.
The European Union's 27 nations are gradually replacing their railway signaling systems with the unified European Rail Traffic Management System, but the project's US$6.8 billion price tag has led to delays. EU officials said some nations were reluctant to replace their systems, even systems that are 50 years old.
"We would like to see more, but there is a distinction to be made between what you would like and what is possible," said Enrico Grillo Pasquarelli, director of inland transport for the European Commission. "To move progressively, it takes time, it takes money, and it takes a lot of effort and organization."
The two black box data recorders could shed light on why one commuter train apparently ran a red light on Monday and collided with another as it was shifting to a merging track.
Work crews began separating the two trains yesterday, three days after they collided near Brussels.
The wreck highlighted the lagging efforts by national railroads to stitch together about 20 incompatible systems into a unified computer-driven signaling network with an automatic breaking system.
The stretch of line where the accident occurred will not be upgraded for another four years, though it is one of the choke points where Europe's high-speed trains share tracks with local traffic, officials said.
Eurostar said it is running a reduced service to Brussels until Monday morning and that trains from London will only be running to Lille, France, where passengers are transferred to buses for Brussels. It said other high-speed Thalys and TGV trains from France are also suspended until the track has been cleared.
The accident happened 15 kilometers south of Brussels. There were 18 known deaths, but more bodies may be found, national railways spokesman Jochen Goovaerts said. Another 171 people were injured.
Police have yet to question the one driver who survived the crash and is recovering from serious injuries.
The European Union's 27 nations are gradually replacing their railway signaling systems with the unified European Rail Traffic Management System, but the project's US$6.8 billion price tag has led to delays. EU officials said some nations were reluctant to replace their systems, even systems that are 50 years old.
"We would like to see more, but there is a distinction to be made between what you would like and what is possible," said Enrico Grillo Pasquarelli, director of inland transport for the European Commission. "To move progressively, it takes time, it takes money, and it takes a lot of effort and organization."
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