Abstract
Being as far north as it is, in Norway January is a dark month. In the year 2000, the 4th of January became the darkest day of all. On this day two trains collided head-on on a single-track line at Åsta in Østerdalen, a sparsely populated area north of Oslo. This line, named Rørosbanen, was controlled by a centralised system, but it was not equipped with an automatic train stop (ATS)-system. The line was not electrified, so both trains were diesel-powered. The collision caused the fuel tanks on both trains to rupture and some 5000 litres of diesel poured out and caught fire. The trains burned for several hours. 19 people were killed, some by the collision and some by the fire. Among these were the drivers of both trains. This was the second biggest train accident in Norwegian history. In 1975 a very similar (but for the fire) accident killed 27 people. The train driver survived then, and was prosecuted.
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Norges offentlige utredninger 2000:30 Asta-ulykken, 4. januar 2000, Statens forvaltningstjeneste, Informasjonsavdelingen, 2000
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© 2002 Springer-Verlag London
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Halvorsrud, G. (2002). The Åsta Train Crash, its Precursors and Consequences, and its Investigation. In: Redmill, F., Anderson, T. (eds) Components of System Safety. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-0173-4_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-0173-4_2
Publisher Name: Springer, London
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