# Swedes on a Train **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [February 27, 2013, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swedes-on-a-train/651522 "2013-02-27T15:41:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Olentzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90ced4/32.png) [@Olentzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olentzero)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2013, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swedes-on-a-train/651522/1 "2013-02-27T15:41:27Z")
Just a few words on the addendum Cecil added [here](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/3091/are-large-breasted-women-more-likely-to-get-carpal-tunnel-syndrome) at the end of his essay. Firstly, it became clear almost immediately that the crash would not have been as bad if an ATC system had been in place at the end of the line. Questions were immediately raised as to why that line didn’t have one, and no satisfactory answers seem to be forthcoming from the company that runs it. Secondly, the cleaning lady on board the train was cleared of any wrongdoing in the crash only three days afterward. From the sound of the articles, it appears that they don’t even think she started it by accident - the people in charge knew the keys were on the train, but were at a loss (at least when the articles were written) to explain how it started up. The train in question (pictured [here](http://www.dn.se/sthlm/arriva-tagen-kan-rulla-ivag-av-misstag)) is an older model that is not frequently used but probably got trotted out to make up for a shortage somewhere. Just sayin’, for accuracy’s sake. ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2013, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swedes-on-a-train/651522/2 "2013-02-28T12:24:24Z")
> [@Olentzero](#): > > The train in question (pictured [here](http://www.dn.se/sthlm/arriva-tagen-kan-rulla-ivag-av-misstag)) is an older model that is not frequently used but probably got trotted out to make up for a shortage somewhere. That type of train is regularly used on that particular line, which is not connected to the main railway system in Sweden. It just goes between central Stockholm and the suburb Saltsjöbaden in the Souteast ([see map](http://goo.gl/maps/eYDib)). If I’m not too mistaken they are old underground cars that have been rebuilt for this purpose. ---
**Author:** ![Olentzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90ced4/32.png) [@Olentzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olentzero)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2013, 8:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swedes-on-a-train/651522/3 "2013-03-01T08:44:25Z")
I see similar ones now and again on the commuter rail line south to Nynäshamn, as well as on the underground lines (especially the Blue Line) but have never seen one on the Tvärbanan - figured it was a backup. Still, it’s a reconditioned one and should probably not really be in service, no? ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2013, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swedes-on-a-train/651522/4 "2013-03-01T10:38:50Z")
They are only used in the underground system and rebuilt on the Saltsjöbaden line. Those you see in rush hour traffic on the railway lines are something completely different. Tvärbanan and a couple of other lines use trams, not trains. ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2013, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swedes-on-a-train/651522/5 "2013-03-01T21:24:03Z")
This really needs to get featured in a Scandinavia and the World comic somehow. ---
**Author:** ![Olentzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90ced4/32.png) [@Olentzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olentzero)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2013, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swedes-on-a-train/651522/6 "2013-04-05T07:40:30Z")
Another update about this, because the cleaning lady involved in the accident was interviewed in her union’s magazine just [yesterday](http://sekotidningen.se/artikel/forstar-att-det-kommer-ga-at-helvete/). Most of it is of little interest - her injuries, her shaky memories of the accident, other personal aspects - but at the bottom of the interview is a short article about the causes. Two paragraphs stand out: > [@](#): > > According to police, the technical investigation shows that there were several serious breaches of safety around the train and the track on which it was parked. But even two months after the fact, neither Arriva [the company that operates the trains **-O.**], the police, nor the Swedish Accident Investigation Authority - all of whom are investigating the incident - are willing to comment on the exact course of events. > > What is known is that the switches were in the wrong position and the train, in principle, was ready to drive. There is much that indicates the “dead man’s grip” was disconnected to prevent the brakes from freezing while the train was out of operation for the night. Exactly what started it rolling is either not known, or no one is currently willing to comment on it. The authorities’ silence on the matter, coupled with the fact that they have issued a more or less complete apology to Sara, the cleaning lady aboard the ill-fated train, would indicate that they don’t even think she accidentally started the train (in her interview, she states that trains often moved around in the station while cleaning crews were aboard). Don’t know if it’s worthy of an emendation to the article or not, but I figure **Cecil** and the staff might want to know about it in any case. ---
**Author:** ![OxyMoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e9a140/32.png) [@OxyMoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OxyMoron)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2013, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swedes-on-a-train/651522/7 "2013-04-05T17:02:03Z")
In the US, we call them rutaba… oh. _Those_ Swedes. \That’s a completely different thing. Never mind. \