here is a report summarizing railway events. i have included all railway events some of which may be y2k, some are definitely not, some are questionable. some are minor and some are major. i have compiled them in consecutive order by date. A few of these are before the rollover, i included everything i found on the forums.
08-29-99 On Aug. 29, a 97-car Canadian National Railroad train jumped the tracks in Birmingham. Railroad officials said a split-second malfunction that changed a train signal from green to red contributed to a fiery train derailment in Birmingham.
http://www.detnews.com/1999/oakland/9909/27/09260063.htm
*******************
11-18-99 Two dead in train crash in northwest Iowa; injuries in California crash 12.34 p.m. ET (1744 GMT) November 18, 1999 (AP) - A freight train struck an empty grain train in northwest Iowa, killing a conductor and the driver of a van that was parked by the tracks. A second train accident injured at least 15 in California today....Both trains were Union Pacific trains... "We're investigating why the freight train didn't go on to the side track,'' Davis said. He did not know if the tracks are switched automatically or by hand.
In Fullerton, Calif., a MetroLink commuter train with about 65 passengers struck a freight train today, injuring at least 15 people...... The cause of the collision wasn't immediately known... (from Greenspun, Time Bomb 2000, no link)
12-02-99 On December 2, seven people were killed and 51 injured when controller problems may have played a part in another Blue Mountains service slamming into the the slow-moving Indian Pacific....A faulty red signal at Glenbrook station already has been acknow- ledged as part of the tragedy. The drivers of the two trains radioed to Penrith signal box for instructions from the train controller on duty on whether to proceed from the signal.
The Daily Telegraph (Australia)
http://www.news.com.au/news_content/state_content/4337125.htm
12-15-99 A BLUE Mountains commuter train yesterday was sent down the wrong track after a blunder by a controller inside a signal box only one day old. The 9.57am west-bound InterCity from Central to Lithgow was sent off the main western line on to the Richmond line at switch points at 10.30am, travelling 400m the wrong way to Blacktown station. Several hundred passengers were on board when the train was diverted.....The incident near Blacktown station comes only 12 days after seven people were killed on a similar InterCity service near Glenbrook, possibly also due to controller error.
The Daily Telegraph (Australia)
http://www.news.com.au/news_content/state_content/4337125.htm
12-30-99 Two cargo trains collided.... in St-Hilaire, Quebec, causing an explosion and the death of 2 operators. Early news reports were saying a split rail was found and sent to labs to determine whether it was the cause of the derailment or if the split rail was due to the explosion. [ 01-03-00 (update)-This morning on T.V. news, the coroner who examined cause of death of the operators determined 1)that death was caused by the explosion, and 2) the explosion occurred before the collision. -Another investigative official reported that the cause of the derailment was NOT due to human error, but did not elaborate. (CNEWS) ]
(from Greenspun, Time Bomb 2000, no link)
01-04-00 BAMAKO, Mali (Reuters)--The monitoring of Mali's railway system has been disrupted by computer problems but no other difficulty
linked to the millennium bug has been reported in the West African country, the government said on Tuesday.
(link is expired)
01-04-00 ASTA, Norway (Reuters) - Norwegian rail controllers tried to telephone two train drivers to tell them to halt before a head-on collision that killed 20 to 30 people but had a wrong list of numbers.....Officials said it was unclear why the two trains were on the same track, each travelling toward each other at about 80 kph (50 mph). They collided on a curve about 160 km (100 miles) north of Oslo. Sixty-eight people survived, some with severe injuries.....He said that there were no signs of technical faults on the signaling system, meaning that one of the drivers drove past red signals. Both drivers were believed to have died.
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20000105/wl/crash_norway_17.html
01-05-00 - Two months ago the Norwegian National Rail Administration warned that lives could be lost
at the turn of the millennium due to computer problems. This was revealed in an internal
document from the Ministry of Transport and Communications. The Rail Administration has
found Y2K bugs in its systems in Hamar. (Dagbladet)
The Norway Post
www.norwaypost
01-05-00 A train ran out of track, crashed through some shrubs and came to a stop on the sidewalk .....The accident took place because the train crew were unable to stop in time, the spokesman adds. It isn't known yet why they couldn't stop.
Fort Saskatchewan's Online Weekly Newspaper Volume 5, Issue 1, January 5, 2000
http://www.fortsaskinfo.com/thepost/ (link expired)
01-06-00 80 train drivers boycott the Roeros line 80 train drivers refuse to operate on the Roeros line, before the cause of Tuesday's tragic accident has been found, or until the unmanned train stations again are manned.....Railworks Director Steinar Killi alleges that the signals on the Roeros line functioned properly before the catastrophic train crash on Tuesday. This means that one of the trains went through a red light. This has angered members in the Train Drivers' Association. - . (NRK/Dagsavvisen) Rolleiv Solholm
http://www.norwaypost.no/content.asp?cluster_id=10884&folder_id=1
01-08-00 From the Chemical Incident Reports Center (CIRC): Freight Train Strikes Truck Carrying Propane, Driver Killed, Residents Evacuated
Location Date of Incident Wrightstown, WI, United States 1/8/2000
IEvacuations Injuries Fatalities Yes - Number Unknown None Reported 1
Information Added: Monday, January 10, 2000 - 5:40 PM----The accident killed the driver, who was carrying a partially full cargo of propane.
http://www.chemsafety.gov/circ/index.cfm?recent=updates&recent_num=20
01-10-00 RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AP) -- Two trains collided in a downtown station in Rio de Janeiro on Monday, injuring at least 41 people, authorities said.....Police said one of the trains was apparently on the wrong track.
01-10-00 Johannesburg - Spoornet workers are clearing away debris at the scene of...collision between two goods trains at Devon station, near Springs, in which an assistant driver was killed...... According to a Spoornet spokesperson on the scene a train with 11 paraffin tankers and two diesel engines collided with a stationary train with two diesel engine and trucks containing phosphoric acid and lime. The second train was apparently waiting at a crossing for the signal to proceed. All four diesel engines were destroyed in the blaze. The damage is estimated to run into millions of rands
http://news.24.com/English/South_Africa/South_Africa/ENG_218881_927099_SEO.asp
01-14-00 The National Rail Administration, as part of a move to step up safety measures, now orders two drivers to be present in the locomotives of all trains not equipped with automatic train control (ATC) systems when running on lines where ATC has been installed. (NTB)
Only nine days after the Esta train disaster, the railway systems safety features have again failed: at Dombes, a locomotive ploughed into a passenger coach, injuring an elderly woman who required hospitalization. Earlier the same day, a large number of passengers had to be evacuated from the pride of the NSB - the new high-speed Signatur train, immobilized in a tunnel on the south country line. (Dagbladet)
The National Rail Administration has calculated that it will cost NOK 1.5 billion to install remote control, automatic train stop systems and radio communications on all trains and railway lines in Norway. (Dagens Nfringsliv)
The Norway Post
http://www.norwaypost.no/content.asp?cluster_id=8855&folderid=4
here is the report i promised on railway events. i have included all railway events some of which may be y2k, some are definitely not, some are questionable. some are minor and some are major. i have compiled them in consecutive order by date. A few of these are before the rollover, i included everything i found on the forums.
08-29-99 On Aug. 29, a 97-car Canadian National Railroad train jumped the tracks in Birmingham. Railroad officials said a split-second malfunction that changed a train signal from green to red contributed to a fiery train derailment in Birmingham.
http://www.detnews.com/1999/oakland/9909/27/09260063.htm
*******************
11-18-99 Two dead in train crash in northwest Iowa; injuries in California crash 12.34 p.m. ET (1744 GMT) November 18, 1999 (AP) - A freight train struck an empty grain train in northwest Iowa, killing a conductor and the driver of a van that was parked by the tracks. A second train accident injured at least 15 in California today....Both trains were Union Pacific trains... "We're investigating why the freight train didn't go on to the side track,'' Davis said. He did not know if the tracks are switched automatically or by hand.
In Fullerton, Calif., a MetroLink commuter train with about 65 passengers struck a freight train today, injuring at least 15 people...... The cause of the collision wasn't immediately known... (from Greenspun, Time Bomb 2000, no link)
12-02-99 On December 2, seven people were killed and 51 injured when controller problems may have played a part in another Blue Mountains service slamming into the the slow-moving Indian Pacific....A faulty red signal at Glenbrook station already has been acknow- ledged as part of the tragedy. The drivers of the two trains radioed to Penrith signal box for instructions from the train controller on duty on whether to proceed from the signal.
The Daily Telegraph (Australia)
http://www.news.com.au/news_content/state_content/4337125.htm
12-15-99 A BLUE Mountains commuter train yesterday was sent down the wrong track after a blunder by a controller inside a signal box only one day old. The 9.57am west-bound InterCity from Central to Lithgow was sent off the main western line on to the Richmond line at switch points at 10.30am, travelling 400m the wrong way to Blacktown station. Several hundred passengers were on board when the train was diverted.....The incident near Blacktown station comes only 12 days after seven people were killed on a similar InterCity service near Glenbrook, possibly also due to controller error.
The Daily Telegraph (Australia)
http://www.news.com.au/news_content/state_content/4337125.htm
12-30-99 Two cargo trains collided.... in St-Hilaire, Quebec, causing an explosion and the death of 2 operators. Early news reports were saying a split rail was found and sent to labs to determine whether it was the cause of the derailment or if the split rail was due to the explosion. [ 01-03-00 (update)-This morning on T.V. news, the coroner who examined cause of death of the operators determined 1)that death was caused by the explosion, and 2) the explosion occurred before the collision. -Another investigative official reported that the cause of the derailment was NOT due to human error, but did not elaborate. (CNEWS) ]
(from Greenspun, Time Bomb 2000, no link)
01-04-00 BAMAKO, Mali (Reuters)--The monitoring of Mali's railway system has been disrupted by computer problems but no other difficulty
linked to the millennium bug has been reported in the West African country, the government said on Tuesday.
(link is expired)
01-04-00 ASTA, Norway (Reuters) - Norwegian rail controllers tried to telephone two train drivers to tell them to halt before a head-on collision that killed 20 to 30 people but had a wrong list of numbers.....Officials said it was unclear why the two trains were on the same track, each travelling toward each other at about 80 kph (50 mph). They collided on a curve about 160 km (100 miles) north of Oslo. Sixty-eight people survived, some with severe injuries.....He said that there were no signs of technical faults on the signaling system, meaning that one of the drivers drove past red signals. Both drivers were believed to have died.
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20000105/wl/crash_norway_17.html
01-05-00 - Two months ago the Norwegian National Rail Administration warned that lives could be lost
at the turn of the millennium due to computer problems. This was revealed in an internal
document from the Ministry of Transport and Communications. The Rail Administration has
found Y2K bugs in its systems in Hamar. (Dagbladet)
The Norway Post
www.norwaypost
01-05-00 A train ran out of track, crashed through some shrubs and came to a stop on the sidewalk .....The accident took place because the train crew were unable to stop in time, the spokesman adds. It isn't known yet why they couldn't stop.
Fort Saskatchewan's Online Weekly Newspaper Volume 5, Issue 1, January 5, 2000
http://www.fortsaskinfo.com/thepost/ (link expired)
01-06-00 80 train drivers boycott the Roeros line 80 train drivers refuse to operate on the Roeros line, before the cause of Tuesday's tragic accident has been found, or until the unmanned train stations again are manned.....Railworks Director Steinar Killi alleges that the signals on the Roeros line functioned properly before the catastrophic train crash on Tuesday. This means that one of the trains went through a red light. This has angered members in the Train Drivers' Association. - . (NRK/Dagsavvisen) Rolleiv Solholm
http://www.norwaypost.no/content.asp?cluster_id=10884&folder_id=1
01-08-00 From the Chemical Incident Reports Center (CIRC): Freight Train Strikes Truck Carrying Propane, Driver Killed, Residents Evacuated
Location Date of Incident Wrightstown, WI, United States 1/8/2000
IEvacuations Injuries Fatalities Yes - Number Unknown None Reported 1
Information Added: Monday, January 10, 2000 - 5:40 PM----The accident killed the driver, who was carrying a partially full cargo of propane.
http://www.chemsafety.gov/circ/index.cfm?recent=updates&recent_num=20
01-10-00 RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AP) -- Two trains collided in a downtown station in Rio de Janeiro on Monday, injuring at least 41 people, authorities said.....Police said one of the trains was apparently on the wrong track.
01-10-00 Johannesburg - Spoornet workers are clearing away debris at the scene of...collision between two goods trains at Devon station, near Springs, in which an assistant driver was killed...... According to a Spoornet spokesperson on the scene a train with 11 paraffin tankers and two diesel engines collided with a stationary train with two diesel engine and trucks containing phosphoric acid and lime. The second train was apparently waiting at a crossing for the signal to proceed. All four diesel engines were destroyed in the blaze. The damage is estimated to run into millions of rands
http://news.24.com/English/South_Africa/South_Africa/ENG_218881_927099_SEO.asp
01-14-00 The National Rail Administration, as part of a move to step up safety measures, now orders two drivers to be present in the locomotives of all trains not equipped with automatic train control (ATC) systems when running on lines where ATC has been installed. (NTB)
Only nine days after the Esta train disaster, the railway systems safety features have again failed: at Dombes, a locomotive ploughed into a passenger coach, injuring an elderly woman who required hospitalization. Earlier the same day, a large number of passengers had to be evacuated from the pride of the NSB - the new high-speed Signatur train, immobilized in a tunnel on the south country line. (Dagbladet)
The National Rail Administration has calculated that it will cost NOK 1.5 billion to install remote control, automatic train stop systems and radio communications on all trains and railway lines in Norway. (Dagens Nfringsliv)
The Norway Post
http://www.norwaypost.no/content.asp?cluster_id=8855&folderid=4
-- boop (leafyspurge@hotmail.com), January 17, 2000