March 10, 1843 – During a test run, a locomotive derailed on a railway bridge nearWarmond. One person was killed, marking the first railway crash in the Netherlands.[1]
February 6, 1856 – A railway employee was injured near Merssen and died a few days later.[2]
April 2, 1856 – A railway employee was killed in Amsterdam after falling on the track.[3]
June 10, 1856 – A 65-year old waiter was killed atHalfweg by a train.[4]
August 10, 1856 –Schiedam train accident. A train fromThe Hague rammed into another from The Hague, bound for Rotterdam. Three people were killed and five injured.[5]
June 2, 1868 – BetweenBreukelen andMaarssen, a freight train headed for Germany crashed into a stopped passenger train. The two hind-most carriages of the passenger train, which had been stopped to resolve a defect to its locomotive, were destroyed. One passenger was killed, and some others injured.[6]
February 1881 – An express train crashed into the station master's house inWoerden. Three were injured.[7]
September 13, 1918 –Weesp train disaster,Weesp, Netherlands. Heavy rainfall caused the embankment leading to theMerwedekanaal bridge to become unstable. When a passenger train approached the bridge, the track slid off the embankment, causing the carriages to crash into each other and the locomotive to hit the bridge. Forty-one were killed and 42 injured. In the aftermath of the disaster, a study ofsoil mechanics was undertaken at theDelft University of Technology.
January 8, 1962 – TheHarmelen train disaster, the deadliest railway incident in the history of the Netherlands, occurred when Leeuwarden–Rotterdamexpress train driver missed a warning signal in fog andpassed a red signal to collide nearlyhead-on with another passenger train from Rotterdam to Amsterdam. Ninety-three people (including both drivers) died and 52.[8]
May 4, 1976 –Schiedam train accident nearSchiedam; an international train collided with a local train, killing 24 people and injuring 11.
March 20, 2003 –Roermond. The driver of anNS passenger train suffered aheart attack,ran through a red signal to collidehead-on with a freight train. The driver was killed, six passengers were seriously injured. After passing a distant signal at danger theautomatic safety system had not enforced a deceleration large enough to prevent a collision.[11]
September 5, 2006 – A diesel locomotivepassed a red signal and collided with a passenger train atAmersfoort. Seventeen people were injured.[12]
November 20, 2006 – A trainpassed a red signal causing ahead-on collision inRotterdam. The passenger train was empty and no one were injured, but there was extensive damage to the rail track and its overhead power lines.[13]
October 11, 2008 –Thalys trainset 4536 running betweenParis andAmsterdam collided with aKoploper ICM unit nearGouda. A steam train hauled by aBR 232-6-2 locomotive, which had its route set into the path of the collision, made a successful emergency stop.[15]
September 24, 2009 –Barendrecht train accident. Two freight trains collidedhead-on below a viaduct on the A15 motorway nearBarendrecht, killing the driver of one train. Derailed sections landed on a parallel track, where a passenger train was approaching. resulting in a handful of minor injuries.[16]
July 25, 2010 – The driver and another rail worker were injured when aSpenorailgrinder failed to stop in front of thebuffer stop atStavoren. A shop behind the track was demolished.[17]
January 11, 2011 – AnICE express train collided with a freight train and derailed atZevenaar. There were no injuries.[18]
November 28, 2011 – ASprinter collided with a stationary Sprinter atLeiden Centraal. Three passengers were injured.[19]
September 11, 2012 – AHTM city tram crashed into the back of another HTM city tram at an intersection near the railroad station of The Hague Hollands Spoor. Both were carrying a large number of passengers, and 36 people were injured.[22]
September 2, 2013 – The operator of an intercity train ofNederlandse Spoorwegen ignored a red light and ended up in the path of a second intercity train. The driver of the second train avoided a collision by applying the emergency brake after seeing his signal change from green to red.[23][24] The official investigation concluded that after passing a yellow signal, the driver at fault applied the brakes sufficiently to satisfy the automatic control system, but not to stop before the red signal. A non-failsafe backup protection system to stop the train on approach to the red signal didn't activate as it wasn't properly configured, but wouldn't have helped anyway as the train was going too fast.[25]
January 15, 2014 – A passenger train fromDutch Railways derailed near the central station ofHilversum. The train was carrying around 550 passengers. No injuries were reported.[26][27]
January 21, 2014 – An empty, out-of-service tram/LRT vehicle ofHTM's Randstadrail service crashed into an in-service tram/LRT Randstadrail vehicle at a tram stop, injuring four people.[28]
March 17, 2014 – A tram/LRT vehicle ofHTM's Randstadrail service crashed into a city tram on an intersection near the city border withDelft, injuring 20 people, one severely.[29]
March 17, 2014 – A passenger train carrying 100 people fromSyntus crashed into the trailer of a truck that had become stuck at a railroad crossing near the town ofAlmen. The truck driver escaped just in time, but three train passengers were injured.[30]
March 6, 2015 – A passenger train ran into the rear of a freight train betweenTilburg Universiteit andTilburg stations. A few passengers suffered minor injuries.[31]
March 12, 2015 – A fire occurred on a passenger train atAbcoude,Utrecht. All on board were evacuated;[32] twenty-four people were taken to hospital.[33]
February 23, 2016 –Dalfsen train crash. A passenger train collided with a crane atDalfsen,Overijssel. The train driver was killed, and six others were injured.[34]
November 18, 2016 – A passenger train derailed after colliding with a milk lorry on a level crossing atWinsum,Groningen. Eighteen people were injured, three seriously.[35]
April 28, 2017 – A passenger train collided with a truck on alevel crossing atWouw and derailed, injuring the driver.[36]
September 20, 2018 –Oss rail accident; a passenger train collided with a Stint cart on a level crossing atOss, killing four children and injuring two other people.[37]
January 11, 2019 – A passenger train collided with a truck on a level crossing inLeeuwarden,Friesland and derailed. Six people sustained minor injuries. The truck driver had parked on the level crossing while asking for directions.[38][39]
October 17, 2022 – A train collided with a disabled bus atBergen Op Zoom level crossing. The bus driver had left the bus, but was unable to prevent the collision, which split the bus and damaged the overhead wires.[41][42][43][44]
