Harmelen train disaster

The Harmelen train disaster, on 8 January 1962, was the worst railway accident in the history of the Netherlands. Harmelen, in the central Netherlands, is the location of a railway junction where a branch to Amsterdam leaves the Rotterdam to Utrecht line. It is common at high-speed junctions to avoid the use of diamond crossings wherever possible—instead, a ladder crossing is employed where trains destined for the branch line cross over to the track normally employed for trains travelling in the opposite direction for a short distance before taking the branch line. The accident happened 18 months after the Woerden train accident, the derailment of a British furlough train nearby. Previously, the Weesp train disaster of 1918 had been the worst railway disaster in the Netherlands.