Passenger train passes through red light signal, crash narrowly avoided

A passenger train passed through a red light signal in the Blansko region on Thursday evening halting just 53 metres from an express train from Prague, which was standing in the Letovice station at the time, Czech Railways reported on its website. Nobody was hurt. The passenger train was equipped with the European Train Control System (ETCS) and inspectors are investigating how it is possible that the train passed through the red light signal. They say everything points to human error. "It is an alarming situation, which we want to investigate thoroughly so that nothing similar can happen again," Jan Kučera, inspector general of the Railway Inspectorate told the ctk news agency. The ETCS is a European Train Control System that works as an independent train supervisor that automatically intervenes when the driver makes a mistake and applies the train's emergency brakes.