Monday, November 30, 2009

A new wave of the rail war in Russia


An improvised explosive device caused the express train Moscow-St. Petersburg to derail on November 29, killing at least 26 people and injuring about 100. A total of 681 people -- 20 of them employees -- were on the Nevsky Express as it traveled from Moscow to St. Petersburg on Friday night. The Nevsky Express is Russia's fastest train, equivalent to a bullet train. The crash happened at 9:25 p.m. (1825 GMT) when the train was 280 kilometers (174 miles) from St. Petersburg, Russian state radio said. At least three carriages carrying more than 130 people derailed and turned on their sides. Emergency workers freed people who were trapped inside. In August 2007, an explosion on the tracks derailed the Nevsky Express, injuring 60 people in what authorities called a terrorist act. About 27,000 passengers on 60 trains were facing delays Saturday as a result of the accident, Russian state TV reported.
Another explosion hit a railway in Russia’s Caucasian region of Dagestan on 30 November. "A railway was hit by an explosion before a train travelling from Tyumen to (Azerbaijan’s capital) Baku passed. The train did not derail, although the locomotive pulled the carriages about 150 meters along the damaged rails," a local police official was quoted as saying. “The incident took place at about 06:00, Moscow time on the 2354 kilometre of the Moscow-Baku railway not far from the Inchkhe station,” police official added. The train was stopped by law enforcement officers, and rescue workers were involved. There are no casualties

Read more and see more pictures at http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/11/29/russia.train.crash/
http://en.trend.az/capital/transport/1589509.html