According to NRK Buskerud, Dag Muggerud, head of the emergency department in Hallingdal fire and rescue service, described the work done in this case as fabulous, with the train driver and Vy personnel doing a tremendous job. He noted that Vy employees chose to pull the train to a place accessible for fire and rescue services, police, and ambulance, and that evacuation took place simultaneously as they freed the burning carriages, moved the train to a safe zone, and continued the evacuation. Muggerud called the effort absolutely brilliant, and he believes it may have helped limit the damage and at best saved lives.
He reported large forces at the scene, with incredibly high energy in the fire that burned off power lines. Vy has confirmed that the same carriages involved in Tuesday's fire were used on the Bergen Line on Monday and Tuesday. Press officer Siv Egger Westin stated that Vy can now confirm it is the same carriages that were used.
The work done in this case is in our view fabulous. The train driver and Vy personnel have done a tremendous job.
She explained that when there was a smell of burnt rubber on the Bergen train on Monday, train personnel checked the carriages but found nothing and continued the journey to Bergen, where they were inspected at the workshop without anything wrong being found. Westin added that since the cause is unknown, she cannot speculate about cause or connection, but it is the same carriages. The Norwegian Safety Investigation Authority started its investigations of the fire on the Bergen Line at 8 o'clock today, conducting technical investigations of the burnt-out carriages.
Bane Nor is working full time to remove the train carriages that burned, with regional director Lars Rygtveit noting that the one carriage that burned does not roll, while the other two can be towed away in an intensive and difficult job. There is major damage to the train carriages, and Rygtveit hopes the heavy train sets are removed during the night. After the trains are removed, 150 meters of damaged contact wire must be hung up, and the track must be checked after heat development, which Rygtveit described as a big job.
By that they have chosen to pull the train to a place that is accessible for us in the fire and rescue service, as well as police and ambulance.
He did not know when the Bergen Line would open again. The Bergen Line was opened for traffic overnight to Thursday, after having been closed due to fire since Tuesday, with trains running again between Nesbyen and Flå. The fire on Tuesday afternoon caused damage to the contact line installation on the stretch between Bergheim and Nesbyen, with around 150 meters having to be replaced.
One of the train carriages was so damaged that it could not be pulled on the rails and had to be lifted away with excavators. The incident commander in the fire department believes many in similar industries can learn from the effort made in Nesbyen on Tuesday afternoon. According to NRK Buskerud, Dag Muggerud described that if people who work in this type of industry manage to do the same good job, then people can feel safe, as they laid everything in place for emergency services to do their job, emphasizing safety and rescue 24/7.
Evacuation has taken place simultaneously, they have freed the carriages that were on fire and moved the train to a safe zone and continued the evacuation.
It is absolutely brilliant!
There have been large forces here. There has been incredibly high energy in this fire. Power lines burned off.
If people who work in this type of industry manage to do the same good job, then people can feel safe. They have laid everything in place for us to do our job. And we think safety and rescue 24/7.