(THIS ARTICLE IS MACHINE TRANSLATED by Google from Norwegian)
The danger of passengers injuring themselves at Norwegian train stations has suddenly become acute, so six stations must be closed. As Ny Tid wrote last week, 15 other stations are at risk. But is this due to accidents? How many accidents has the Norwegian Railway Inspectorate registered in recent years, as a result of some train platforms being shorter than the trains that stop there?
- We have no such overview, is railway director Erik Ø. Johnsen's answer.
Ny Tid has asked Jernbanetilsynet to compile statistics on the basis of the accident documentation contained in the agency. They have not yet managed that. There are simply no statistics that show that too short platforms have been a problem in Norway. Some of the stations that are now being closed down are over a hundred years old. Nevertheless, it is only now that the danger of accidents is considered acute.
- I can actually remember one accident. There was a guy who walked out of the wrong door and fell down a slope a few years ago. But then there was probably also some alcohol in the picture.
This is what Mayor Ånen Trygsland says in Marnardal. His municipality is affected by the closure of Øyslebø station on the Sørlandsbanen.
- It is strange that they do not have any statistics in advance of a decision to close traffic, Trygsland says.
The railway director tells Ny Tid that they are trying to prepare such an overview now.
"Unfortunately, I can not tell you how long this will take," says Johnsen.
Employees in NSB and Jernbaneverket speculate to Ny Tid as to whether it is all due to other reasons, such as the desire to streamline operations by serving fewer stops. No one has studied the significance of the fact that many of the train passengers who lose their station will choose a car instead. According to Trygg Trafikk, 149 drivers and car passengers died in traffic in 2005, until November this year 115 were killed.
The mayor of Marnadal says Øyslebø station is used primarily by almost ten people who commute to work.
- I'm sorry for these. And for the municipality, it is disappointing that we were not asked. We have still not received any information from Jernbaneverket, a week after this became known in the press.
