Tank Car Derailment on the Shunting Shoe at Vetlasyan Station on the Northern Railway on June 10, 2025
In June 2025, two traffic safety incidents occurred at stations on the Russian Railways network as a result of train conductors (cars forward) passing red lights while shunting.
On June 10, 2025, at 5:24 PM, at Vetlasyan Station on the Northern Railway, two tank cars loaded with hazardous cargo (gasoline) derailed on the No. 1SB centralized shunting shoe while a group of cars was moving onto a hump.
The investigation established that, according to the shunting plan, after transferring a group of 29 cars from track No. 11 to track No. 29A (hump siding), they were to be backed over the hump of the marshalling yard's hump onto track No. 19 of the marshalling and departure yard.
While transferring the shunting train from track No. 11 to the siding of track No. 29A (locomotive first), the train dispatcher dismounted the locomotive and walked toward the G signal on the hump of the marshalling yard.
At 5:10 PM, the shunting train stopped on track No. 29A.
In accordance with the requirements of the Instructions on the Procedure for Using Signaling and Interlocking Devices at Vetlasyan Station (hereinafter referred to as the Instructions), to prepare the route for moving onto the marshalling hump, the DSP (at the request of the DSPG) sets switch No. 101 (located between the PGM signal and the G hump signal) in the direction of the moving route and transfers control of the PGM signal to the DSPG.
At 5:22 PM, in violation of the Instructions, the DSPG, without completing the action to transfer the PGM signal to local control and without preparing the route in the prescribed manner, reported via radio to the locomotive's TCM and the train dispatcher that the route for moving onto the marshalling hump was ready.
In violation of paragraph 26 of Appendix No. 10 to the IDP, the train dispatcher, without observing the signal indications of the PGM signal and the position of switch No. 101, commanded the locomotive's TCM to back up the shunting train. As a result, the shunting train was allowed to pass the prohibiting signal indication of the PMG signal, followed by the derailment of the first two cars (cargo and gasoline) on wheel-breaker shoe No. 1SB.
