Page 3 - Report of the railway accidents investigated in 2021

Preface to the report
The new version of the Railways Act approved by the Riigikogu came into force in Estonia on 31 March 2004. Thus the provisions of the Railway Safety Directive 2004/49/EC were legalised in the Estonian judicial area. On the same day the safety investigation unit of railway accidents was formed as part of the Crisis Regulation Department of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications. With this a legal as well as an organisational basis for conducting safety investigations in the country were set. There was already an investigation unit for aviation accidents at the Crisis Regulation Department and later an investigation unit for maritime accidents was added.
On January 1, 2012, a unified multimodal Safety Investigation Bureau (ESIB) was formed on the basis of the transport accident investigation units of the Crisis Regulation Department. The ESIB conducts safety investigations of maritime, aviation and railway accidents and incidents.
Subsequent changes came into force on 31 October 2020 by which the European Parliament and Council Directive (EC) 2016/798 on railway safety was applied to the Estonian judicial area. In Estonia, occurrences affecting railway safety are accident, serious accident and incident. This list is pursuant to the classification of occurrences affecting railway safety in the Railway Safety Directive. Safety investigations take place independently from all other investigations of the same occurrence. National legislation in line with the Safety Directive has been established for the organisation of safety investigations.
During the reporting year, the intensity of rail traffic started to recover from the negative effects of Covid-19. With the increase in the intensity of railway traffic, the same tendency appears with indicators reflecting safety violations. During the reporting year no serious accidents or incidents took place that required a safety investigation. The ESIB processed all occurrences they were informed about.
3
Annual report 2021