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Commuters stranded after cable fall

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Commuters stranded after cable fall

An electric cable fell onto the commuter train tracks south of Stockholm on Thursday, delaying thousands from beginning their day on time. Three trainloads of travellers, during peak rush hours, were forced to sit and wait for more than two hours while rescue workers evacuated them from their cabins.

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Hundreds of grunts, sighs and moans were heard as the station operator reported the delay. Hands dug deep into pockets searching for the ubiquitous mobile phone as people made their way to a bus stop like stampeding cattle.

The Swedish Rail Agency said it did not know what caused the electric cable to fall across the tracks, but estimates say as many as 3,000 could have been stranded.

“The information we have now is that two people received light injuries, but I don’t know if happened from cables coming through the window or not,” said Ingemar Lindahl, a rescue service spokesman. “Right now we are helping to evacuate commuters to busses.”

The wire was a 1600 volt cable. It fell between on the pendeltåg lines between Flemingsberg and Tullinge stations, south of the city.

“We got calls from passengers on the train who described it as though they were shot with a rocket shotgun,” said Jan Möllerfält, a rescue service operator. “There were explosions and loud noises. The cable probable knocked out a few windows on the train.”

All traffic between Södertälje and Huddinge was stopped. Buses were called in to help transport people.

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