09-14-2010, 01:54 PM
One last followup. Following the formal Accident Investigation of the incident where a cut of runaway container flatcars killed three people in Oslo, Norway in march 2010, the district attorney for the city and province of Oslo has just announced that he is assessing relatively hefty (by Norwegian standards) fines against Jernbaneverket (the track & infrastructure owning auhority) and Cargonet (which owned the runaway cars) for the unsafe practices which lead to the accident.
Jernbaneverket was fined 15 million Norwegian Kroner (about 2.5 million American dollars), and Cargonet was fined 7 million Norwegian Kroner (about 1.25 million American dollars).
The district attorney has debated whether to charge the tower operator or not. The tower operator was following established procedures, but the prosecution authority was still in doubt about whether he should be charged with criminal negligence.
In the end they ended up deciding to let him off with a formal warning. Which of course is not the same as being found innocent - he will always have that warning on his record, along with the knowledge he already has had since this incident - that his actions contributed to the deaths of three people.
Since the accident, routines has been changed at the yard, and new barriers to runaway cars established.
Stein
Jernbaneverket was fined 15 million Norwegian Kroner (about 2.5 million American dollars), and Cargonet was fined 7 million Norwegian Kroner (about 1.25 million American dollars).
The district attorney has debated whether to charge the tower operator or not. The tower operator was following established procedures, but the prosecution authority was still in doubt about whether he should be charged with criminal negligence.
In the end they ended up deciding to let him off with a formal warning. Which of course is not the same as being found innocent - he will always have that warning on his record, along with the knowledge he already has had since this incident - that his actions contributed to the deaths of three people.
Since the accident, routines has been changed at the yard, and new barriers to runaway cars established.
Stein