Crashed train removed from Stockholm house

Two cranes and a crowd of curious onlookers were on hand on Monday as crews successfully removed a train car that had been lodged in a house in the Stockholm suburb of Saltsjöbaden after crashing into the building nearly two weeks ago.

• Cleaner in train crash 'remembers nothing' (24 Jan 13)
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"Everything went well. The house is still standing," Tomas Hedelius, spokesman for rail operator subcontractor Arriva, told the Aftonbladet newspaper.

The lead car of the train ended up in the kitchen and living room of a ground-floor apartment in the early hours of January 15th after the runaway train ran through a barrier at the end of the Saltsjöbanan commuter rail line.

RELATED GALLERY: See how the train was removed from the house

Initial reports indicated that a 22-year-old cleaner onboard at the time had stolen the train, but investigators have since concluded the woman likely set the train in motion by accident.

Engineers and rail officials have puzzled over how exactly to extract the remaining train car from the building without causing it to collapse.

After days of preparations, crews fastened five tow lines to the wagon, with two extending to each of the two cranes, and the fifth attached to a tractor.

As a crowd of bystanders and reporters looked on, the damaged car was lifted into the air and slowly dragged out of the building.

After being suspended in mid-air for a few minutes, the car then came to rest on the ground a short distance away from the building.

According to Hedelius, the train car will now be examined by forensic experts from the police and accident investigation officials in an attempt to determine what may have caused the train to be set in motion and reach an estimated 70 km/h before jumping the tracks at the end of the line.

The cleaner injured in the incident remains in hospital. In her first interview with police, she said last week she has no recollection of the crash.

Police and prosecutors continue to investigate the incident, which made headlines around the world, as a possible workplace safety crime.

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