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I think that this story qualifies for a big 'Oops!'

 

A swedish cleaner has apparently stolen a train, and then managed to leave the rails and crash it into an apartment block. 

 

More details and pictures here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-21030211

Last edited by N.Q.D.Y.
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According to the latest news reports, the cleaner did not try to steal the train, but started it accidentally whilst cleaning it. The rail company is now being investigated.

 

From the BBC news.

 

"A cleaning lady accused of commandeering an empty Swedish commuter train which crashed into a house did not steal the vehicle, officials say.

Prosecutors in the capital, Stockholm, said that they had closed the criminal case against the woman, who sustained serious injuries in the accident.

They said they now believe she started the vehicle by accident as she was cleaning it in the middle of the night.

The woman had initially been accused of stealing the train.

On Friday, the prosecutor said the cleaner was no longer suspected of wrongdoing.

"Everything suggests it was a pure accident where several temporary and unfortunate circumstances caused the woman to set the train in motion when she was cleaning," Paer Andersson said in a statement, according to AFP news agency.

No-one was hurt in the building which was hit when the train came off its tracks in the early hours of Tuesday in the suburb of Saltsjoebaden.

The train operating companies, Arriva and SL, may now face an investigation into a possible breach of safety laws.

A spokesman for Arriva said it was unfortunate that the woman, who was detained in hospital on suspicion of destroying public property, had been described as a thief."

Whew!  I thought our reputation was threatened.  In this Age of Terrorists, even in

Norway, I am surprised one in bordering Sweden was left in "park", so it was possible to inadvertently or otherwise take it joyriding.  I rode the train out of Stockholm up to Gamla Uppsala to tour the Viking mounds, but that was a decade ago...Boomer is right about Stockholm, and if you get a chance, check out Norway's Oslo and Bergen, too, AND the scenery. (actually, you take the train up to Uppsala,

a university town,  and then ride the tram out to Gamla (old) Uppsala to the mounds....but to ride a tram out into the countryside gives you the feeling of what it once was like to ride interurbans all over the midwest in the U.S.  I don't know

if there is any place here you can still do that....at that traction museum at the

East Broad Top in Pa.?)

Originally Posted by N.Q.D.Y.:

According to the latest news reports, the cleaner did not try to steal the train, but started it accidentally whilst cleaning it. The rail company is now being investigated.

 

From the BBC news.

 

"A cleaning lady accused of commandeering an empty Swedish commuter train which crashed into a house did not steal the vehicle, officials say.

Prosecutors in the capital, Stockholm, said that they had closed the criminal case against the woman, who sustained serious injuries in the accident.

They said they now believe she started the vehicle by accident as she was cleaning it in the middle of the night.

The woman had initially been accused of stealing the train.

On Friday, the prosecutor said the cleaner was no longer suspected of wrongdoing.

"Everything suggests it was a pure accident where several temporary and unfortunate circumstances caused the woman to set the train in motion when she was cleaning," Paer Andersson said in a statement, according to AFP news agency.

No-one was hurt in the building which was hit when the train came off its tracks in the early hours of Tuesday in the suburb of Saltsjoebaden.

The train operating companies, Arriva and SL, may now face an investigation into a possible breach of safety laws.

A spokesman for Arriva said it was unfortunate that the woman, who was detained in hospital on suspicion of destroying public property, had been described as a thief."

If this woman was a car cleaner, what was she doing in the cab? They usually clean the common area where passengers ride. Maybe the motorman or her super asked her to do something that was out of her job classification and now they're paying the price. Also, why was the motor left unattended in a power up type situation?

Seems like these trains would require a key switch or have other safeguards to prevent accidental startup.

 

Kinda wonder if she really did want to try running the train but it got out of hand. Then a lawyer comes up with a good BS story to get her off?

 

Isn't there usually a big red handle somewhere obvious in the cab that says "Emergency Brake?" Or is that only on our typical domestic diesel-electric locomotives?

 

She was perhaps deprived of toy trains as a child.

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