Baltic States – CIS, Legislation, Railways, Transport

Should it be proven that a train repaired by Operail, previously know as EVR Cargo, caused the railway accident in Russia, the company will face large financial penalties. 

At the beginning of December, a derailment occurred on the border of the Tyumen and Omsk regions of Russia. Seven of the 34 railway cars of a train, which was said to have been carrying military equipment, were scrapped and nine required major repairs. Aripaev reported that Russian officials regard as one of the causes of the accident a railway car that was repaired in Operail's depot in the Estonian town of Tapa, which may result in a claim for tens of millions of euros in damages for the company.

A Russian committee of inquiry has reached a preliminary conclusion that an Operail railway car is partly to blame for the accident as the rail car previously traversed the section as part of another trainset. During the journey, a wheelset of Operail's car left the rails and was dragged along for nine kilometers, which caused damage to the railway. Said damage is believed to be the cause of the derailment that occurred to the train transporting military equipment. The report indicates a systemic error in the repair quality of the Tapa depot.