page_title: Great Belt Bridge rail accident
section_title: Accident
hierarchical_section_title: Great Belt Bridge rail accident / Accident
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Fahrbahn des Westbrückenzuges, dahinter Sprogø und die Ostbrücke
context_page_description: The Great Belt Bridge rail accident occurred on 2 January 2019 on the Great Belt Fixed Link in Denmark when a passenger train collided with a semi-trailer from or on a passing freight train. The Great Belt Fixed Link is an 18 km long bridge–tunnel connection between the Danish islands of Zealand and Funen, and the accident happened on the West Bridge, near Funen. The accident happened during a storm, which had closed down the bridge for road traffic, but not for rail traffic. Eight passengers were killed, all Danish citizens, and 16 were injured, making it the deadliest rail accident in Denmark since 1988.
  An early investigation found that in some cases, wagons similar to the one involved in the accident failed to lock the semi-trailers in place. A full investigation was published several months later and it confirmed the earlier results. The Danish Transport Authority temporarily banned this kind of wagon until extra locking procedures were put in place, and have tightened the rules for freight on the bridge during windy weather. Shortly after, temporary measures to avoid similar accidents were introduced throughout Europe and permanent measures will be introduced in early 2020.
context_section_description: Due to Storm Alfrida, which hit Denmark on 1 January 2019, the Danish Road Directorate closed the Great Belt Bridge for all road traffic on the night between 1 and 2 January. It was expected to reopen at 11:00 on 2 January. Rail traffic was not restricted. Both road and rail traffic travel by the West Bridge, a low box girder bridge, but the more wind-exposed East Bridge, a suspension bridge, is only for road traffic, as trains here  travel by tunnel.
  At 07:11, InterCity express ICL 210 departed from Odense headed for Copenhagen. Operated by DSB, it was carrying 131 passengers and a crew of three when it arrived at the western end of the bridge. Meanwhile, a freight train operated by DB Cargo with a crew of one, loaded with semi-trailers carrying crates of empty bottles belonging to Carlsberg, was heading in the opposite direction towards the Carlsberg brewery at Fredericia, 72 kilometres (45 mi) to the north west of the crash site.
  Shortly before 07:35, on the West Bridge of the Great Belt Fixed Link, between the islands of Sprogø and Funen, the passenger train collided with an object initially believed to be a tarpaulin from the freight train, but later that same day identified by Accident Investigation Board Denmark to be an empty semi-trailer from the freight train. The train driver has since said that he noticed sparks lower than usual (i.e. not from the overhead catenary) and that "something big" was hanging from the approaching freight train.
  The storm and the location of the accident complicated the emergency operation. Initially, six casualties were confirmed while the trains were still on the bridge, but after they had been moved to a secluded area, two more bodies were found in the passenger train. Both in relation to the accident and the ongoing storm, the government crisis management organization, the National Operative Staff (NOST) decided to convene.
  Eight passengers were killed, five women and three men, and 16 were injured in the accident. None of the wounded had life-threatening injuries: 14 had minor injuries, and 2 had moderate injuries. On 4 January, all victims had been identified as Danish citizens, between 27 and 60 years old.
  The bridge reopened for road traffic at approximately 12:20 on 2 January. Later that afternoon, the westbound carriageway was briefly closed due to queueing by curious drivers. Rail traffic was restarted at 10:40 on 3 January, when one track opened, and all traffic was normal by the evening.
caption: The railway on the West Bridge, as viewed towards Sprogø and the East Bridge. The passenger train was on the southern track to the right; the freight train on the northern track to the left.
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