The Railway Accident Investigation Department continues its work on clarifying the circumstances of the recent incident. The head of the department, J. Luksts, emphasizes that the purpose of the investigation is not only to identify those responsible but, above all, to assess safety systems and procedures in order to prevent similar cases from recurring in the future.
J. Luksts notes:
"Determining the responsible persons is not the main goal of this investigation. Our focus is on evaluating the circumstances of the incident and the safety systems. It has been established that the direct cause of the accident was the disregard of a prohibition signal and the movement of the train past a shunting signal displaying a restrictive indication. Such action points to human error – a situation where an employee’s carelessness, fatigue, or incorrect decision leads to a violation of safety regulations.
However, to answer the essential question – whether railway traffic under such conditions is sufficiently safe – an in-depth investigation is necessary. This will analyze all the circumstances of the accident, evaluate the existing safety measures, and identify possible safeguards. These safeguards should serve as an additional safety layer capable of compensating for human error and preventing the recurrence of such incidents in the future."