Series of Railway Incidents: Derailment near Opole and Fatal Accident in Susk Nowy

On Sunday, February 22, around 5:22 PM, on the railway section between Opole and Suchy Bór, an electric locomotive performing a technical run derailed. Three firefighting units and the police worked at the scene. The incident completely blocked the route towards Ozimek and Tarnowskie Góry, forcing the introduction of replacement bus services for Polregio passengers and the diversion of long-distance trains. Technical services of PKP PLK took immediate action to restore traffic, but passengers traveling, among others, from Warsaw to Opole had to expect multi-hour delays. The day before, on Saturday evening, a tragedy occurred at a marked railway crossing in the town of Susk Nowy in Masovia. A speeding railbus hit a Hyundai car in which a 39-year-old woman and a 16-year-old boy were traveling. Both died at the scene. There were 17 passengers on the railbus who were not injured. The police, under the supervision of the prosecutor's office, are investigating the causes of this incident, checking whether the driver ignored warning signs before the railway crossing. According to data from the Office of Rail Transport, most accidents at railway crossings in Poland occur at category D crossings, where safety depends almost entirely on driver vigilance and compliance with STOP signs.„W wyniku wypadu dwie osoby z auta poniosły śmierć na miejscu. Szynobusem, z którym zderzyło się auto osobowe podróżowało 17 osób. Pasażerom zapewniono właściwą opiekę.” (Two people from the car died at the scene. There were 17 people traveling on the railbus that collided with the passenger car. The passengers were provided with proper care.) — Chief Inspector Tomasz ŻerańskiThe weekend incidents were complemented by other dangerous events, including a collision between an Alfa Romeo and a railbus in Kotórz Mały, where a 20-year-old woman and three children miraculously avoided death. Additionally, on the Lower Vistula on Sunday, a several-day-long icebreaking operation was concluded. Four icebreakers: Tygrys, Rekin, Orka, and Foka, cleared the river near Toruń, breaking up the ice cover that had formed for the first time since 2012. These actions prevented the formation of dangerous ice jams and potential flooding in the region. The icebreaking operation on the Vistula is a key element of flood protection, especially during thaws, when accumulated ice can block the free flow of water and damage hydrotechnical infrastructure.