Europe agrees tougher safety checks for freight rail wagons

Freight wagons will have to undergo safety checks far more often under new Europe-wide rules agreed by railway regulators and the industry, SRF reported on Friday. The changes follow the 2023 derailment in the Gotthard Base Tunnel and largely reflect stricter rules pushed by Switzerland.

Depending on the type of brake shoe and the wheel diameter, wagons will need to be inspected every 50,000 to 300,000 kilometres. Under the previous rules, inspections were required only after 660,000 kilometres.

The requirements are set out in the fifth report by the Joint Network Secretariat of the European Union Agency for Railways on the Gotthard tunnel accident. Switzerland had introduced tougher national rules after the accident, but their implementation was blocked by court proceedings following complaints from major wagon owners.

Christa Hostettler, director of the Swiss Federal Office of Transport, described the European agreement as an important step for safety and a success for Switzerland. The office had been the only national authority to impose stricter requirements after the accident.

Switzerland will adopt the European rules, Hostettler said. She added that the industry should implement them immediately rather than wait until 2028, when the formal implementation deadline expires.

Gotthard accident triggered safety push

On 10 August 2023, a freight train derailed in the Gotthard Base Tunnel after part of a wheel broke. The incident badly damaged the tracks and a track-change door. No one was injured, but the accident closed the key European north-south passenger route for months. The tunnel fully reopened in September 2024 after repairs costing more than 150 million Swiss francs.

SRF’s Rundschau had also reported that broken wheels had caused several accidents in Germany after the Gotthard incident.

The Swiss Association of Shippers and the Freight Transport Industry welcomed the European solution. Its president, Josef Dittli, said Switzerland should adopt the rules without additional requirements or a separate Swiss standard.

However, the question of liability remains unresolved. Hostettler said the relevant parties would only reliably implement the measures once it was clear who was responsible. Dittli agreed that the issue required an international solution rather than another Swiss unilateral approach.