Freight train collision damages rail infrastructure in Schwechat

A collision between two freight trains in Schwechat is expected to have caused extensive damage to rail infrastructure and cargo, ORF reported. No one was injured, and firefighters have completed their response.

More than 100 firefighters from 18 departments brought the blaze under control after wagons overturned and cars fell beside the tracks. Fire commander Christoph Schwaighofer described it as a major operation.

Austrian Federal Railways, or ÖBB, described the incident as a side collision between two freight trains. Three freight wagons carrying passenger cars derailed and partly overturned. Firefighters extinguished fires involving several cars and wagons, and the damaged wagons were secured. Investigators are working to establish how the collision happened.

Freight trains are being diverted onto other routes while repairs are prepared at the Vienna-Kledering central marshalling yard. Authorities are also inspecting the site to determine whether the soil has been contaminated. About 40 vehicles were being carried on one of the affected trains.