The Nijmegen train disaster was a rail crash in the Netherlands in which two passenger trains—of which one did not contain passengers—collided head-on. The collision happened on 28 August 1979 between
Wijchen
Wijchen () is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and a town in the province of Gelderland, in the eastern part of the Netherlands.
Population centres
Number of residents per population centre per 12 December 2009:
Source: Statis ...
and
Nijmegen
Nijmegen ( , ; Nijmeegs: ) is the largest city in the Dutch province of Gelderland and the ninth largest of the Netherlands as a whole. Located on the Waal River close to the German border, Nijmegen is one of the oldest cities in the ...
, near the ''Kolpingbuurt'' neighbourhood in Nijmegen on the railway line Tilburg to Nijmegen. Eight people died in the disaster,
seven passengers and the driver of train 4365. Thirty-six people were injured, including the conductor and driver of train 74363.
Trains
Two trains were involved in the crash. The first was an empty train 74363 destined for
Nijmegen railway station
Nijmegen railway station is the main railway station of Nijmegen in Gelderland, Netherlands. It was opened on 9 August 1865 and is located on the Tilburg–Nijmegen railway, Nijmegen–Venlo railway and the Arnhem–Nijmegen railway. It was ex ...
. This train consisted of a
multiple unit
A multiple-unit train (or multiple unit (MU)) is a self-propelled train composed of one or more Coach (rail), carriages joined, and where one or more of the carriages have the means of propulsion built in. By contrast, a locomotive-hauled ...
of the ''Mat '64 Plan V 936'' type. The second was train 4365 consisting of two two-carriage multiple units of the ''Mat '46'' type, units 256 and 244. Train 74363 traveled at about 5 km/h, the passenger train 4365 at about 90 km/h.
See also
*
List of rail accidents (1970–1979)
References
Further reading
* Spoorwegongevallen in Nederland, 1839-1993; writer: R.T. Jongerius, Published by: Schuyt & Co, 1993. Part 22 in the book range of the ''Nederlandse Vereniging van Belangstellenden in het Spoor- en tramwegwezen'' (NVBS), .
External links
*
Train collisions in the Netherlands
Railway accidents in 1979
1979 in the Netherlands
Accidents and incidents involving Nederlandse Spoorwegen
August 1979 in Europe
1979 disasters in the Netherlands
{{netherlands-stub