List of wind-related railway accidents

High winds can blow railway trains off tracks and cause accidents.^[1]

Dangers of high winds

High winds can cause problems in a number of ways:

• blow trains off the tracks
• blow trains or wagons along the tracks and cause collisions
• cause cargo to blow off trains which can damage objects outside the railway or which other trains can collide with
• cause pantographs and overhead wiring to tangle
• cause trees and other objects to fall onto the railway.

Preventative measures

Risks from high winds can be reduced by:

• wind fences akin to snow sheds
• lower profile of carriages
• lowered centre of gravity of vehicles^[2]
• reduction in train speed or cancellation, at high winds
• a wider rail gauge
• improve overhead wiring with:
  • regulated tension rather than fixed terminations
  • shorter catenary spans
  • solid conductors

By country

Australia

• 1928 – 47 wagons blown along line at Tocumwal^[3]
• 1931 – Kandos – wind blows level crossing gates closed in front of motor-cyclist ^[4]
• 1943 – Hobart, Tasmania; Concern that wind will blow over doubledeck trams on 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) gauge if top deck enclosed.^[5]
• 2010 – Marla, South Australia; Small tornado blows over train.^[6]

Austria

• 1910 – Trieste (now in Italy) – train blown down embankment.^[7]

China

• Lanxin High-Speed Railway#Wind shed risk
• February 28, 2007 – Wind blows 10 passenger rail cars off the track near Turpan, China.

Denmark

• Great Belt Bridge rail accident. On 2 January 2019 a DSB express passenger train is hit by a semi-trailer from a passing cargo train on the western bridge of the Great Belt Fixed Link during Storm Alfrida, killing eight people and injuring 16.^[8]

Germany

• Rügen narrow-gauge railway, 20 October 1936: derailment of a train, five injured^[9][10]

India

• One reason for choosing broad gauge in India for greater stability in high winds.

Ireland

• On the night of 30 January 1925, strong winds derailed carriages of a train crossing the Owencarrow Viaduct of the 914 mm (3 ft) gauge Londonderry and Lough Swilly Railway.

Japan

• Inaho
• Amarube Viaduct
• 1895 Gale blows train into sea ^[11]

New Zealand

• Rimutaka Incline railway accident

Norway

• Makrellbekken (station)#Wind related accident – blowing snow disoriented a tractor driver who collided with a train

South Africa

• Wind tangles overhead wiring in Cape Town, 2012.^[12]

Switzerland

• In 1996, one train from the Wengernalp Railway derailed in Bernese Oberland with four people injured.^[13]
• On January 19, 2007, one train derailed near Wasserausen.^[13]
• In 2018, one train from the Montreux–Lenk im Simmental line derailed in the Simmental region, injuring eight people.^[13]
• On March 31, 2023, two trains derailed in the Canton of Bern due to strong winds, with fifteen people injured.^[14]

United Kingdom

• Tay Bridge disaster 1879
• Chelford rail accident 1894 – during shunting
• De-wirements on the East Coast Main Line
• Leven Viaduct, Cumbria 27 February 1903
• Cheddington 2008 – two containers blown off train – design of "spigots" criticised.^[15]
• Moston 2015 – out of gauge train hits platform, throwing stones onto other track.^[16]
• Scout Green 2015 – empty 30-foot ISA container blown off train ^[17]

United States

• On April 24, 1883, 2 cars of a passenger train were blown from the narrow-gauge Denver, South Park and Pacific Railroad tracks near Como, Colorado, with only minor injuries.^[18]
• Around 6:15 pm, May 6, 1876, a passenger train traveling south on the Illinois Central Railroad at about 23 miles per hour was derailed during a storm just south of Neoga, Illinois. Numerous minor injuries were reported.^[19]
• Around 7 am, Feb. 23, 1884, 2 cars were blown off the narrow-gauge tracks of the Colorado Central Railroad near Georgetown, Colorado.^[20]
• Around 2 pm, February 4, 1885, the wind overturned an entire 3-car Colorado Central Railroad train just east of Georgetown, Colorado. The express train had slowed to 8 miles per hour because of the wind. 18 out of 20 passengers were injured.^[21][22]
• At 3:30 pm, April 1, 1892, a narrow-gauge passenger train of the Burlington and Northwestern Railway was blown off the tracks while running at full speed 1 mile east of Butler, a station between Fremont, Iowa and Hedrick, Iowa.;^[23][24][25] 4 were seriously injured, a dozen more suffered minor injuries.^[26] Note that the location places this on the Burlington and Western Railway tracks.
• On September 2, 1911, tram services in Charleston, South Carolina, were suspended due to winds.^[27]
• On June 28, 1986, a derecho derailed 18 piggyback cars on the Kate Shelley High Bridge over the Des Moines River in Iowa.^[28]
• On June 29, 1998, the Corn Belt Derecho blew several double stack and piggyback cars off the Iowa Interstate Railroad bridge across the Iowa River.^[29]
• A 2008 tornado in Northern Illinois derailed a Union Pacific train.^[30] Dramatic footage of the event was captured by a camera mounted on the train.^[31]
• On April 27, 2015, a severe storm knocked several double stack cars off the track as a train crossed the Huey P. Long Bridge, New Orleans, Louisiana, with no injuries. The accident was captured by a WGNO News Team dashcam.^[32]
• On March 13, 2019, mid-day winds of around 80 mph derailed the rear 26 cars of a double stack train on the Union Pacific high steel trestle over the Canadian River south of Logan, New Mexico.^[33]

One reason for choosing broad gauge (17% wider than standard gauge) for BART was the greater stability in high winds and perhaps earthquakes.^[34][35][36]

Factors

• Lightweight trains
• Narrow gauge
• Aspects of the terrain ^[37]
• Tunnels ^[38]

See also

• Snowshed

References

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