Raz: Rail Accident near Jablonov nad Turnou Caused by Engine Driver's Failure

Bratislava, 18 November (TASR) - The railway accident that took place near the village of Jablonov nad Turnou in Roznava district (Kosice region) in mid-October was caused by the driver of one of the trains, who ignored a red light and thus failed to respect the signals at the entrance to a tunnel. This is the conclusion of the Transport Ministry's investigation body that was announced by Transport Minister Jozef Raz (a Smer-SD nominee) at a news conference on Tuesday. The body also proposed several measures that should help to improve the safety of rail transport in the future. The minister stressed that the Transport Ministry's investigation body is a separate entity from the law-enforcement authorities. In this sense, it doesn't deal with accountability, but with the cause of the accident, i.e. a description of what happened in a given situation. It is also its task to propose measures that will have a preventive effect in order to avoid similar mistakes in the future. "The conclusion of the investigation into this accident is what seemed to be a very probable cause from the beginning, namely that the train driver ignored a red light. This means failing to respect a stop sign at the entrance to a tunnel," stated Raz. According to the minister, the investigation body proposed two measures in its final report. The first one concerns the carrier, namely state-run company ZSSK, which should intensify its monitoring activities. "The second one is to expand preventive activities, especially in the area of ​​repeated experience of a route by engine drivers. Repetition is the mother of wisdom, so engine drivers should be trained to drive on a given specific route again and again," explained Raz. ko/df