On a freight train in Etten-Leur that transports passenger cars, a fire broke out around one o’clock on Wednesday afternoon. The train, which is stationary at the Vossendaal, would have broken the overhead wires. This is reported by the Central and West Brabant Security Region.
Several cars on the train are on fire. According to ProRail, these are hybrid cars. “The cars are on two layers of the train,” a 112 correspondent said. “There are a lot of bangs. It must be the car tires. Many fire engines were called and a police helicopter circled over the site of the fire.”
Power from catenary
ProRail quickly removed the power from the overhead wires and had to send employees this way urgently. By switching off the power quickly, more serious damage – such as on the Lelystad-Dronten section, where things went wrong on 2 September – would have been prevented.
ProRail reports that no more trains will run on this route for the rest of Wednesday. The NS previously reported that train traffic between Breda and Roosendaal would be blocked until at least six o’clock on Wednesday evening. No travelers are involved in this incident.
Vossendaal closed
The fire is limited to a few cars on the freight train – which would have been on its way to Vlissingen Sloehaven – has not spread further since two o’clock in the afternoon. “Buildings in the vicinity are not threatened,” a spokesperson for the Security Region said.
The Vossendaal is closed to traffic because of the fire on the train. A lot of smoke is released during the fire. People nearby are warned to stay out of that smoke.
