Norway’s rail authority criticised over fatal 2024 derailment

Norway’s Accident Investigation Board has found serious safety failures by state rail infrastructure manager Bane Nor following the fatal derailment on the Nordland Line in October 2024, Dagbladet reports.

A passenger train derailed near Finneidfjord in Nordland after a rockslide struck the tracks, sending the locomotive onto the adjacent E6 highway. The driver was killed in the accident.

The investigation concluded that heavy rainfall over time triggered the landslide. It also found that earlier stabilisation work on the rock face did not meet technical standards, and that Bane Nor had removed risk-mitigation measures without conducting required risk assessments.

The report further criticised Bane Nor for organisational failures, including a lack of training for managers and administrative staff in safety-critical roles. This led to changes being implemented without updated risk analyses.

In 2024, Rolf Ringdal, then head of the Norwegian Locomotive Drivers’ Union, told Dagbladet that members had repeatedly warned Bane Nor and train operator SJ about the vulnerability of the stretch. “Our members have alerted Bane Nor and SJ that action needed to be taken on this section because it was prone to landslides,” Ringdal said at the time.