10 July 2018
Tekirdag Province, Turkey: a geotechnical failure caused a derailment, killing 24 people
Posted by Dave Petley
Tekirdag Province, Turkey: a geotechnical failure caused a derailment, killing 24 people
On Sunday 8th July 2018, a train travelling towards Istanbul from Erdine in Turkey suffered a very major derailment in a rural part of Tekirdag Province. A number of carriages left the rails and overturned. In total 24 people were killed, and a further 73 people were injured. There are some quite distressing pictures circulating showing the aftermath of the accident (which I will not reproduce), but this one shows the overall situation after the accident (from Afternoon Voice):
The aftermath of the train derailment in Tekirdag Province, Turkey on Sunday. Image via Afternoon Voice.
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This train derailment has been widely reported to be the result of a small landslide triggered by heavy rainfall, which is slightly intriguing given the topography shown above. Other reports have suggested a culvert failure, which seems more likely. This image, published in Hurriyet Daily, appears to provide the answer:-
The possible cause of the rail accident in Tekirdag Provice in Turkey on 8th July 2018. Image via Hurriyet Daily
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The accident seems to have resulted from the collapse of a retaining wall above a culvert on the rail embankment, which has allowed the ground and ballast to slip from under the rails. Presumably this is the culvert for the stream that is shown in the first image, just behind the last derailed carriage. The image above shows the distortion to the rails and the collapse of the sleepers (note the fragments) that presumably occurred as the train crossed the slipped section of the embankment. The image below shows that situation in more detail, although the actual ground failure is just off the side of the image:-
The aftermath of the train derailment in Tekirdag Province on Sunday 8th July 2018. Image via Hurriyet Daily.
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The remarkable thing about this tragedy is that it was caused by such a small geotechnical failure. In total the amount of ground that has shifted is probably a few cubic metres. Landslide-induced rail accidents are not unusual; this accident illustrates the need for vigilance in the management of earthworks on the rail network.
You may be interested in these previous posts about landslides on railway systems around the world:-
- Tumpat-Kuala Lipis: A landslide induced train derailment in Malaysia
- Unbelievable – a video of a landslide striking and derailing a freight train in Everett, near Seattle, USA
- The train derailment on the West Highland line on Thursday
- NTSB report: train collision with a landslide in Northfield, Vermont
- Railway landslides in the UK yesterday
- Images of the Italian railway landslide today
- Landslide-induced train accident in China
- The Harbury tunnel and cutting landslide in Central England
- New images of the Hatfield Colliery (coal mine) landslide in northern England
Dave Petley is the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Hull in the United Kingdom. His blog provides commentary and analysis of landslide events occurring worldwide, including the landslides themselves, latest research, and conferences and meetings.
Dave,
Looking at photos and nearby village names in the news, perhaps this is the location?
41° 9’24.69″N
27°41’25.81″E
This location appears to match river geometry in the drone photos and there also is a large transmission tower in the background in a few photos.
Good scouting, Mark… That is the location.
The incident happened, apparently, because of a culvert washout (most likely due to lack of maintenance/clean-up causing damming of rain waters which found its way out above the culvert under vibration of the train cars and definitely due to insufficient daily line inspection). As can be seen in the close-up photo, the upperstructure is holding; but the foundation is gone locally….
A sad case; especially in this era of technology.