The Grand Ducal Police have confirmed that there was a collision between a car and an approaching train on Rue de Mamer in Bertrange on Monday.
Shortly before 14:00 on Monday 5 July 2021, a train crashed into a car that was trapped on the level crossing on Rue de Mamer.
A private video circulating on social media appeared to show the car becoming trapped between the level crossing barriers and the female motorist exiting the car, getting to safety before the train arrived at speed, hitting the car and taking the vehicle with it along the railway line. The video does not show what happened to the car, or the damage to the train, but it does show a number of shocked individuals, including pedestrians, in the immediate aftermath of the accident.
According to the police report, the driver was in a state of shock and was taken to hospital for a check-up. There were around 35 passengers on the Belgian train coming from Arlon. Nobody was injured. After leaving the train, the passengers continued their journey by bus.
The police added that the reason for the crash is currently being investigated.
Speaking with Chronicle.lu, a spokeswoman for CFL, Luxembourg's railway company, noted that the driver was "very lucky" to have escaped in time, especially since the train was travelling at such a high speed since it was not scheduled to make a stop in Bertrange. Whilst she could not comment on the circumstances leading up to the accident, her advice to all road users was to follow the traffic code (Code de la Route) and stop at red lights: "Red is red. You need to stop". At level crossings, motorists should wait behind the barrier until the crossing is free on the other side. As a last resort, if their vehicle does get trapped on a level crossing, motorists should drive through the barrier; the barriers are designed to break easily in such incidents, of which there are around 75 each year, according to the CFL spokeswoman.
Last month, the CFL took part in International Level Crossing Awareness Day (10 June) and it is carrying out a prevention campaign in schools to make children aware of these dangers.
