2011 Baby derailment
{{Short description|2011 train derailment in Baby, Piotrków County, Poland}}
{{Infobox public transit accident
| name = 2011 Baby Derailment
| image = Katastrofa kolejowa w Babach.jpg
| image_size = 300px
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| coordinates = {{coord|51|32|13|N|19|43|00|E|type:event_source:kolossus-plwiki|display=inline,title}}
| date = 12 August 2011
| time = 16:15 local time
| location = Baby, Piotrków County
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| country = Poland
| line = Warszawa Zachodnia - Katowice
| operator = PKP Intercity
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| type = Derailment
| cause = Disputed:
- Overspeed caused by driver (PKBWK)
- Signal fault (driver and Karol Trammer)
| bus =
| trains = TLK 14101 Stanisław Wysocki, Warszawa Wschodnia - Katowice
| vehicles =
| passengers = 280
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| deaths = 2
| injuries = 80
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File:EP07-1034_w_Bydgoszczy_%2833918648036%29.jpg locomotive, the one that derailed in Baby, 4 years after the accident in Bydgoszcz Główna.]]
On 12 August 2011, an express train travelling from Warsaw to Katowice in southern Poland derailed at Baby, near Piotrków Trybunalski, killing one passenger and injuring 80 others.
Accident
On Friday, 12 August 2011, a PKP Intercity TLK train from {{stnlnk|Warszawa Wschodnia}} to {{stnlnk|Katowice}} derailed at Baby {{IPAc-pl|'|b|a|b|y}}, near the town of Piotrków Trybunalski. The accident happened at 16:15 local time (14:15 UTC). Initially, four passengers were reported dead,{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-14509200 |title=Poland: Train passenger killed in derailment |publisher=BBC News Online |accessdate=12 August 2011 |date=12 August 2011}} but search of the wreckage with the use of lifting equipment and rescue dogs established that only one 52-year-old man had died. A total of 81 passengers were injured,{{cite web |url=http://wyborcza.pl/1,75478,10118582,Areszt_za_katastrofe_kolejowa.html|title=Areszt za katastrofę |publisher=Gazeta Wyborcza |language=Polish |accessdate=16 August 2011}} including about 20 in serious condition.{{cite web | url=http://www.polskieradio.pl/5/3/Artykul/418557,Katastrofa-kolejowa-w-Babach-cztery-osoby-nie-zyja-Trwa-akcja-ratownicza | title=Katastrofa w Babach. Po przeszukaniu wagonów nie znaleziono więcej ofiar (Accident in Baby. Search of the wreckage yielded no more victims) | publisher=polskieradio.pl | work=Wiadomości |language=Polish | accessdate=12 August 2011}} The locomotive, PKP class EU07, number 1034,{{cite web | url=http://bydgoszcz.naszemiasto.pl/artykul/1034881,katastrofa-kolejowa-w-babach-pod-piotrkowem-trybunalskim,id,t.html | title=Katastrofa kolejowa w Babach pod Piotrkowem Trybunalskim (Accident in Baby, with photographs) | publisher=2011 Polskapresse Sp. z o.o. |language=Polish | accessdate=12 August 2011}} and all four carriages derailed. The first carriage turned over. The train was full, carrying almost 280 passengers, as the accident happened on the Friday before the long weekend of the Assumption Day holiday.{{cite web |url=http://www.telegraaf.nl/buitenland/10361875/__Doden_door_treincrash_Polen__.html?sn=binnenland,buitenland |title=Dodelijk treinongeluk Polen (Deadly train crash in Poland) |publisher=De Telegraaf |language=Dutch |accessdate=12 August 2011}}
After the accident, it was reported that the train had been travelling at {{convert|118|km/h}} on a section of line where the maximum permitted speed was only {{convert|40|km/h}}. The driver was placed under arrest in the hospital, and on 15 August 2011 a court placed him under detention for two months. In 2015 he was found guilty of causing the derailment and sentenced for three years and three months of prison.{{cite web |url=https://www.tvn24.pl/lodz,69/maszynista-prawomocnie-skazany-za-katastrofe-w-babach-pod-piotrkowem,564305.html|title= Pociąg wypadł z torów, dwie osoby zginęły. Maszynista prawomocnie skazany|publisher=TVN24 |language=Polish |accessdate=22 November 2018}}
Controversy
In 2019, Polish railway-journalist Karol Trammer wrote, that the investigation team (PKBWK, Państwowa Komisja Badań Wypadków Kolejowych) did not pay attention to the discrepancy between what driver said after derailment, and what has been saved by the audio register in Baby signal box, asserting that driver has pleaded guilty in what he told after the accident. PKBWK would also dismiss signal fault - to which the driver has pointed during interrogation, and 18 April 2012 incident in Baby, which involved signal fault - and train dispatcher error caused by workload and safety errors, as possible causes. In such circumstances, the driver should be acquitted according to in dubio pro reo rule,Karol Trammer, Ostre cięcie. Jak niszczono polską kolej (in Polish), Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Krytyka Polityczna, 2019. which was also used by Polish court during one train crash case in the past.