The Halle train collision (also known as the Buizingen train collision) was a collision between two NMBS/SNCB passenger trains carrying a combined 250 to 300 people in Buizingen, in the municipality of Halle, Flemish Brabant, Belgium, on 15 February 2010. The crash occurred in snowy conditions at 08:28 CET (07:28 UTC), during rush hour, on railway line 96 (Brussels–Quévy) about 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) from Brussels between P-train E3678 from Leuven to Braine-le-Comte (a local rush hour train) and IC-train E1707 from Quiévrain to Liège (an intercity train). A third train was able to come to a stop just in time. The collision killed 19 people and injured 171, making it the deadliest rail crash in Belgium in over fifty years.
Three investigations were held in the aftermath of the crash: a parliamentary investigation to review railway safety, a safety investigation for the purpose of preventing future crashes, and a judicial investigation into whether any laws were broken. The cause of the crash was determined to be a human error by the driver of the train from Leuven, who passed a red signal without authorization. This was contested by the train driver, despite the confirmations of the safety and judicial investigations. Another contributing factor was the absence of TBL 1+ on the train that passed the red signal. If TBL 1+ had been installed the crash may have been avoided. Because of multiple difficulties the judicial investigation lasted for years, causing the train driver, the NMBS/SNCB, and Infrabel (the infrastructure operator) to be summoned to court only in June 2018.
The disaster led to the accelerated rollout of TBL 1+ on the entire Belgian railway network. The last NMBS/SNCB train was fitted with the system in November 2016.
Collision
The train from Leuven, an AM70 Class Classical EMU, was running south on schedule to Braine-le-Comte in the normal (left-handed) direction on its track. It passed a double yellow signal at 08:16 about 500 m (550 yd) ahead of Buizingen station (the next stop). A double yellow means the train must slow down to be able to stop should the next signal be red. The driver must manually confirm the double yellow signal otherwise the train brakes automatically. The next signal was a few hundred meters beyond Buizingen station. At 08:26 the train stopped in Buizingen, and at 08:27 it left the station for its next stop, Halle. The train passed the signal beyond Buizingen station at a speed of 60 km/h (37 mph) whilst accelerating. It was established later that the signal had been red and the train should not have passed it.
The train from Quiévrain, an AM54 Class Classical EMU, was running north in the normal direction on its track, ten minutes behind schedule. After Halle station it passed a yellow-green vertical signal and slowed to 80 km/h (50 mph). A yellow-green vertical signal means the next signal will be double yellow, but there won't be enough distance between the double yellow and the (potentially red) signal after it to come to a full stop. The train therefore needs to start braking before encountering the double yellow. The train had slowed to 40 km/h (25 mph) when it passed the double yellow. At 08:26 the signaller in the Brussels-South signal control center directed the train from line 96 to line 96N, causing it to cross the path of the train from Leuven and automatically change the signal in front of the first switch to green. The train accelerated past the green signal at 08:27 at about 70 km/h (45 mph).
Seeing the Quiévrain train crossing his path, the driver of the Leuven train applied the horn and emergency brakes but could not avoid the collision. He leapt from the cab moments before impact and was found sobbing at the side of the tracks with serious injuries. The train from Leuven hit the side of the train from Quiévrain at 08:28. The first three carriages of both trains were severely damaged, being crushed or flipped on their sides. The second carriage of the Leuven train was forced upwards into the air over the third carriage. Eyewitnesses described the collision as brutal with passengers being thrown violently around the carriages, and referring to dead bodies lying next to the tracks.
The driver of a third train, train E1557 from Geraardsbergen to Brussels-South coming from Halle and running parallel to the other trains, saw the crash happen and applied emergency braking. The train came to a full stop at 08:29, just short of hitting the wreckage and without injury to any of its passengers.
Emergency response
The driver of the third (non-involved) train immediately reported the crash to Infrabel Traffic Control, who alerted the provincial emergency control center of Flemish Brabant and activated emergency procedures halting all train traffic in the area. At 08:32 the emergency control center initiated its medical intervention plan for a mass-casualty incident. The first emergency crews arrived within minutes from the nearby Halle fire station. Police, fire, and emergency medical services were involved in the rescue operations alongside the Red Cross and Civil Protection. The provincial governor Lodewijk De Witte was informed of the crash at 08:39 and the provincial phase of emergency management was initiated at 09:15.
As the carriages and ground were littered with loose overhead wires, the first responders and a train conductor initially had passengers remain in the carriages. Once the power was confirmed to be switched off the walking wounded followed the tracks to the nearby sports center in Buizingen. The more seriously injured were brought to a fire service tent until a field medical post was set up in front of Halle train station. Here victims were triaged and distributed to fourteen hospitals including in Brussels. Uninjured victims were gathered in a sports center in Halle where a reception center was established for friends and family and an information telephone number set up. The Red Cross ensured the availability of normal emergency services in areas from which ambulances had been dispatched.
Casualties
Initial reports quoted a death toll ranging from 8 to 25. At a press conference in the afternoon a provisional death toll of 18 people (15 men and 3 women) was given based on bodies recovered, and 162 injured. Rescuers early on discounted the possibility of finding survivors still trapped in the trains, and the search for bodies was interrupted at nightfall to resume the next morning. Recovered bodies were identified by the Belgian federal police's Disaster Victim Identification team and transported to the morgue at Neder-Over-Heembeek military hospital where support was provided for relatives of the dead.
The final death toll was determined to be 19 including the driver of the Quiévrain train, and 171 injured. Emergency services transported 55 injured from the field medical post to hospital by ambulance and 89 injured presented themselves at hospital by their own means. The investigation eventually classified 35 victims as "seriously injured", 44 "moderately injured", and 92 having sustained minor bruising.
Damage and service disruption
Train services disrupted
Immediately after the crash, all rail traffic was suspended on lines 96 (Brussels–Quévy), 94 (Halle–Tournai), 26 (Halle–Schaarbeek) and HSL 1. Consequential disruptions were expected throughout much of Wallonia (southern Belgium) and in a more limited fashion also in Flanders (northern Belgium). It took two to three days to recover human remains and perform necessary investigative acts, and a few additional days to repair the damage to adjacent tracks so those could be taken into service again. During those days, alternative bus services were provided between Halle station and Brussels-South station. After the damage to the adjacent tracks and overhead wiring was repaired, limited service could resume on those tracks.
Because line 96 is also used by international high-speed trains leaving from Brussels for France and the United Kingdom until they can enter HSL 1 in Halle, international traffic was suspended as well and remained suspended through Tuesday 16 February. Thalys, a high-speed operator built around the line between Paris and Brussels, had to divert four of its high-speed trains in the area at the time to alternative stations. It cancelled all of its services, including trains to Amsterdam and Cologne. A limited Thalys service between Brussels and Paris resumed on the evening of 16 February, with trains leaving from Brussels passing on the single usable track at Buizingen, while trains from Paris were diverted via Ghent. Thalys services between Brussels and Cologne resumed on 17 February. Other TGV services from France to Brussels terminated at Lille-Flandres, just before the Belgian border and the last station before Brussels-South that can accommodate high-speed trains in normal service.
Eurostar, which operates services through the Channel Tunnel to the United Kingdom, cancelled all its services to and from Brussels but continued to operate its services between London and Paris and between London and Lille, the latter with delays. A skeleton service of three Eurostar trains a day in each direction between London and Brussels resumed on 22 February. The trains were diverted via Ghent, lengthening travel time. The full timetabled service resumed on Monday 1 March, two weeks after the crash.
According to data from Infrabel, the crash caused 1,109 trains to be completely cancelled between 16 February and 2 March and 2,615 trains to be partially cancelled between 16 February and 11 March. The crash was also responsible for a total of 41,257 minutes (± 688 hours) of delays between 16 February and 19 March. All service disruptions were ultimately resolved on 19 March.
Spontaneous strike
Further disruption was also caused on 16 February when train personnel staged an unofficial strike in protest of what they called "deteriorating working conditions", which they said could lead to crashes such as the one in Buizingen. The largest impact was in Wallonia, and international train traffic was also affected.
Damage to the infrastructure
The crash caused major damage to the overhead contact system and the tracks on railway lines 96 and 96N. Railway line 26, a major freight and commuter line, was also damaged due to scattered debris. After the recovery of human remains and the necessary investigative acts on the scene, which took two to three days, the (relatively) undamaged carriages were hauled away between Tuesday 16 and Wednesday 17 February. The removal of the wrecked train carriages started on Thursday 18 February. The carriages were completely removed on 26 February, after which Infrabel could start repairing the tracks and overhead wiring. On Monday 1 March, two weeks after the crash, the tracks and overhead wiring were repaired by Infrabel and all suspended train traffic could resume on the affected lines. However, a speed limitation of 40 km/h (25 mph) remained in place until the end of the week because the new tracks had yet to be stabilised. Infrabel warned the speed restriction could result in delays of 5 to 10 minutes during rush hour.
Condolences and reactions
Domestic
Both King Albert II and Prime Minister Yves Leterme returned from their foreign stay to Belgium and visited the crash site the same day of the crash. Leterme expressed his condolences to the victims and their families, and stated that "there was a sense of defeat. First Liège, and now this" in reference to the 27 January 2010 gas explosion in Liège that killed 14 people. The king and prime minister were accompanied by a large delegation of ministers of the federal government and the regional governments, the CEOs of the Belgian rail companies (NMBS/SNCB and Infrabel), Brussels Royal Prosecutor Bruno Bulthé, the general commissioner of the federal police Fernand Koekelberg and governor Lodewijk De Witte. Walloon minister-president Rudy Demotte called the crash a "not just a Walloon or Flemish drama, but a national drama". Flemish minister-president Kris Peeters was on an economic mission in San Francisco and thus could not be there, but he expressed his condolences in the name of the Flemish Government, and thanked the emergency services for their quick intervention. Federal minister of Public Enterprises (responsible for the NMBS/SNCB) Inge Vervotte visited the crash site together with the other ministers of the government, and said she was "very impressed" by the wreckage. She thanked the railway workers and emergency services for their rescue efforts. Former prime minister and then European president Herman Van Rompuy also expressed his sorrow and condolences.
Foreign
The train crash was quickly reported in the international news media, and condolences were received from multiple foreign officials. President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso expressed his condolences to Belgium in the name of the European Commission and in his own name and sent a letter to prime minister Leterme. French president Nicolas Sarkozy offered his condolences in the name of the French people to King Albert II and stated "he was saddened when he learned of the terrible train crash which struck the country with grief". He stressed the deep solidarity between both countries. Prime minister Leterme also received condolences from British prime minister Gordon Brown and Dutch prime minister Jan Peter Balkenende.