[NL] Dozens of cars on freight train on fire after OHLE failure

[DanielB]

A freight train operated by DB Schenker, carrying hundreds of brand new hybrid cars from Bochum, Germany to the harbour in Vlissingen, pulled down the overhead lines near Etten-Leur today.
The sparks generated by this relatively minor incident subsequently turned this into a major incident. Dozens of cars caught fire due to the sparks generated by the overhead lines falling on them, severely damaging both the train itself and the infrastructure.

In total around 60 cars caught fire half of which completely burnt out. Before repairs can start, the front and rear section of the train will be uncoupled and towed to the goods yard in Roosendaal. The middle part sustained too much damage to be taken away by rail and will be removed by a specialised company. Train traffic between Roosendaal and Breda is suspected to remain suspended at least till tomorrow evening.

Source: Translation from articles at BN De Stem and ProRail.

Photo: ProRail

 

[John Webb]

I assume from the photo that this is a 1,500 or 3,000 volt DC line?

 

[AM9]

I assume from the photo that this is a 1,500 or 3,000 volt DC line?

If it's in Germany it will be a 15kV 16.7Hz supply.

 

[Gloster]

I assume from the photo that this is a 1,500 or 3,000 volt DC line?

Etten-Leur is west of Breda, so well into the Netherlands and 1500v D.C.

 

[John Webb]

Etten-Leur is west of Breda, so well into the Netherlands and 1500v D.C.

Thanks.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

That'll cost a bit.
The fire took out 40 cars, the vehicles they were in, and 1 km of OHLE (with possible track damage too).
Even clearing the line will take some doing.

 

[AM9]

That'll cost a bit.
The fire took out 40 cars, the vehicles they were in, and 1 km of OHLE (with possible track damage too).
Even clearing the line will take some doing.

The cost of clearing everything from the scene, OLE, track and rolling stock repair might be more than the replacement cost of the cars.

 

[tony6499]

Bet that looked something when they were all on fire, wouldn't have wanted to be the firemen

 

[AM9]

Bet that looked something when they were all on fire, wouldn't have wanted to be the firemen

That reminds me of when a boatload of BMWs went down on a boat in the North Sea a few years ago.

 

[DanielB]

The CEO of ProRail posted on LinkedIn today that there is heat damage to the tracks as well. The damaged car transporter waggons have been lifted from the tracks this morning, prognosis for repairs to be completed is now tomorrow morning.

More details in this article, which also states the cars were on their way to the UK.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

More details in this article, which also states the cars were on their way to the UK.

Bochum used to have an Opel factory which produced the Astra model, some of which were exported to the UK, but it closed recently.
Were the cars Vauxhall Astras built elsewhere in Germany?

 

[DanielB]

Unconfirmed sources state the train was carrying Fords. They have a plant in Cologne, but apparently the yard in Bochum is used to load them onto a train. (Likely the facilities for loading cars are still available there, despite the closure of the Opel factory)

 

[TheSeeker]

I saw on twitter that one of the cars on the upper deck boot had opened, touching the OLE.

 

[DanielB]

Do you have a link? Hadn't heard of any results from the investigation into the cause of the incident, but an open boot touching the lines would explain why the lines fell on the middle part of a 700 meter long train.

 

[ac6000cw]

I saw on twitter that one of the cars on the upper deck boot had opened, touching the OLE.

Looking at photos, including this one from the Prorail.nl website:

...the contact wire is a reasonable height above the vehicles, so it seems a bit unlikely to me that a bonnet/boot/tailgate could easily touch it (unless maybe there was a low-clearance overbridge or similar) or that it could have bought down a considerable length of it on top of the train. Especially as 1500V DC OHLE is pretty heavy-duty stuff because of the high currents it has to carry.

It will be interesting to know what did cause it though...

 

[westcoaster]

There was a picture from the locomotive, the pantograph was bent over backwards. Can not seem to find it now.

 

[MarcVD]

. Especially as 1500V DC OHLE is pretty heavy-duty stuff because of the high currents it has to carry.

Compared to the French 1500V or even the Belgian 3000V OHLE, the Dutch one does not look that heavy. Dutch railways prefer using feeder câbles parallel to the OHLE to carry part of the current. It's not a bad choice : feeder câbles are not in contact with pantographs so they wear much less.

 

[DanielB]

In this video by ProRail of the repairs you've got a close up of how Dutch OHLE looks like. The parallel feeder cable @MarcVD mentions is also clearly visible.

 

[contrex]

DC arcs are much more vicious than AC ones, a fact which catches out careless solar panel installers. I seem to remember in the 1970s reading of a number of new cars having to be scrapped because they got holes burnt in their roofs from the OHLE. I thought they were Hillman Imps, but I see that there was something from 1963 called the 'Imp Special' that consisted of single-level flat wagons. I wonder if double-deck wagons were used later?

 

[Gloster]

I think I have seen pictures of Imps on Cartics, which was the main wagon type used for new small cars from the mid-1960s. The ill-fated Tierwags might also have been used, although this would probably not have been for long.

 

[MarcVD]

DC arcs are much more vicious than AC ones, a fact which catches out careless solar panel installers. I seem to remember in the 1970s reading of a number of new cars having to be scrapped because they got holes burnt in their roofs from the OHLE. I thought they were Hillman Imps, but I see that there was something from 1963 called the 'Imp Special' that consisted of single-level flat wagons. I wonder if double-deck wagons were used later?

Which is the reason why trains hauling cars always use the front pantograph and not the rear one. Sparks caused by the front pantograph are more likely to land on the locomotive roof rather than on the vehicle behind.