On 15 July 2014, at around 8:40 am MSK (UTC+04:00), an outbound Moscow Metro train derailed between Park Pobedy and Slavyansky Bulvar stations of the Arbatsko-Pokrovskaya Line. Casualties reported include 24 dead and 160 injured. Early reports suggested a power surge or a terrorist attack to be the cause of the derailment, but both were soon dismissed.
This accident was the deadliest ever recorded in the history of the Moscow metro system, and the second to occur due to a technical failure (after the 1982 Aviamotornaya escalator accident).
Background
The Moscow Metro, one of the busiest in the world and serving up to nine million passengers on a daily basis, covered of route and included 194 stations at the time of the derailment. Despite having a reputation for reliability, the system had been increasingly suffering from mismanagement, cost-cutting practices, poor maintenance and outages in recent years.
According to several media reports, a Facebook user announced that two weeks prior to the disaster, he filed an official request to the head of the underground system reporting "problems with the tracks." The user quoted from the reply received in his e-mail: "The tracks are maintained in conformity with the technical standards and tolerances. Problems with mechanical switches in the joints have not been detected, being that the size of the gaps correspond to the technical regulations."
Derailment
The derailment occurred away from the Park Pobedy station outbound towards the Slavyansky Bulvar station, near the railroad switch to a then-unused track for the western section of the Kalininskaya Line. The switch was installed a few weeks prior to the accident, as part of a construction project initiated in 2013 that was working to extend the Kalininskaya Line to the western part of Solntsevo District. Surviving passengers who were unable to cross the debris were evacuated through several construction drifts leading to the surface shaft.
The derailment also caused a massive power outage on the line; another train, which was located in the tunnel at the time of accident some from Slavyansky Bulvar, was also stuck, and passengers had to be evacuated. There were no medical injuries reported from that train.
Early reports cited a power surge as the cause of the accident, but this has not been confirmed and remains under investigation. Passengers on the train described cars striking one another, with most of the impact occurring at the front of the train. The first car, where all of the deaths reportedly occurred, had jackknifed in on itself, and the cars behind it piled up on each other. The final two cars remained on the tracks and were only slightly damaged.
Victims
There were 24 killed in the accident (22 initially, 2 in hospitals), and about 118 were hospitalized. Seventeen of the victims were Russian citizens, and the remaining victims included 2 citizens of Tajikistan, 2 citizens of China, and one person each from Ukraine, Moldova and Kyrgyzstan. About 42 people remained in "serious condition". Another 200 people were evacuated from the Metro; those with injuries were attended outside the station. Initial reports stated that an additional 20 passengers remained underground, trapped in one of the cars. The train operator, a 29-year-old man, survived the crash, but was badly injured and had to undergo cranial surgery.
An accident witness reported to a news agency:
A spokesperson for the transport commission indicated that all passengers were "evacuated from the affected stations by midday". Terrorist threat was suspected, but quickly dismissed in this case. In the early morning of 17 July, personnel finished clearing away the debris and reported another casualty. In total, 17 corpses were removed from the debris, with the remainder of the victims succumbing to critical injuries within 24 hours of rescue. The tunnel was reportedly ready for repairs and night time maintenance as of 1:00 am local time on 18 July and restored to full functionality around 6:00 am.
Replacement service
On Kievskaya, Kuncevskaya and Molodezhnaya entered in antipanic mode (permanently opened gates). As result passengers on Kievskaya railway include VKO aeroexpress and who disembarked at Kuntsevo became free Detected illegal 523 bus (must ride Sokol to Skolkovo, de facto to Kuntsevo only) 2 City Sightseeing buses as bonus on replacement service