Monza train derailed without driver on board

MONZA – The two drivers of the train that derailed on Wednesday in Monza were ordering a sandwich as it rolled out of the station.

 The Trenord train was scheduled to leave at 12:22 but while the two railway workers were waiting and having a snack on the platform, an imperceptible slope prompted it to roll off without a driver. There was one passenger on board, a 49-year old man, as all those who were leaving at the previous stop had already disembarked while those getting on at the next had not yet boarded. The two drivers attempted to climb onto the train as it moved and fell onto the gravel, they were treated for light grazes by emergency workers.

 The investigators from the railway police and magistrates from Monza’s public prosecutor’s office discovered that the driver had not implemented the brakes when he had stopped the train at 11:39 at its last stop. After 15 minutes perilously balanced, the train began to move off slowly down the slope without a driver, and began to gain speed. The control room had already raised the alarm of what was unfolding and security procedures were immediately put into place. They activated different changes and put the train on course towards a “dead” line, allowing it to slam into a wall.

 The train burst through the wall and went up a slope, going over it and turning onto itself, bounced half over the rails dragging two more carriages which disconnected and crashed into one another. Fortunately the only man on board had been at the back of the train and managed to come out with a bruised knee.

 When emergency services arrived on the scene they feared a tragedy, but were astonished and relieved to find the carriages almost empty. They there discovered that the train had not in fact been properly stopped as the appropriate brakes weren’t operating. There are suggestions the driver simply forgot but there will be an investigation of the train’s operating systems to discern the full details.