Loud honking and then a huge bang: local residents were shocked by yet another collision on the track in Oisterwijk on Tuesday evening. A motorist escaped unscathed on Tuesday evening after she became stuck on the rails. But her car, which was hit by a train, was badly damaged. Things also went wrong in 2022. “You’re scared to death,” says Annie Verhoeven (60), who looks straight at the transition from her house.
Local residents estimate the victim to be fifty or sixty years old. She had taken a wrong turn and her car ended up on the tracks. She couldn’t get her car away. Two women rescued the driver from the car just before it was hit by a train. As far as we know, no one was injured.
Dark
“It’s a very dark transition, she said over the phone,” Annie continues. She heard the woman busy calling the insurance company. “She was calm. She didn’t look panicked at all. I wanted to ask her in, but she was very busy on the phone.”
“A huge loud bang,” is how Annie describes it. “Many bystanders stopped. They also stayed for a long time. That gives you confidence in humanity.”
The woman was not injured. There were pieces of the car on the track.
‘Seen more often’
“We’ve seen this before,” sighs Joop Kouwenberg. A similar accident happened almost three years ago at the same crossing. A Belgian woman followed her navigation too literally and ended up on the track. She managed to get her car off the rails.
There is little wrong with the guarded railway crossing, according to local residents. “They’re turning right too early,” thinks Joop. According to residents, it was also foggy.
The woman came from Joannes Lenartzstraat and wanted to go to Haarenseweg in Oisterwijk. Instead of crossing the railroad crossing and then turning, she turned right at the crossing, ending up on the tracks.
‘Really suffering’
Local resident Marjo Timmermans sympathizes with the shocked woman. “She was really suffering, I could see that,” she says. “Luckily she was able to relax in someone’s car.”
The driver of the train was shocked by the collision. A colleague had to take over the train journey. Train traffic could be resumed quickly.
ProRail
A spokesperson for rail manager ProRail says he does not know whether things go wrong more often with this transition. “We always investigate after an accident. Then we take another critical look at the intersection.” According to her, sufficient lighting and the correct markings were present.
There are also speed cameras at the level crossing. This checks whether people taking the railway crossing stop when the railway barriers go down.
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