Railway manager Infrabel discovered two canisters and a dozen burnt-out shells while renewing train infrastructure along the so-called ‘Bomb Trail’ this week.
A specialised explosives firm has spent the past few days searching for old war ammunition under the tracks in Wildert near Essen, where a German ammunition train exploded eighty years ago.
On 9 September 1944, a German ammunition train came under fire from US fighter-bombers. The train exploded in Wildert. Damage to the infrastructure was repaired, but a lot of ammunition still lined the track, eventually finding its nickname the ‘Bomb Trail’.
“Previous works on that stretch of track were limited to renewing the rails so as not to manipulate the ground too much. But now, eighty years after the explosion of the ammunition train, the sleepers and shingles of the ‘Bomb Track’ over a distance of some 150 metres also need to be renewed,” says Infrabel spokeswoman Britt Monten.
To be on the safe side, Infrabel called in a specialised explosives firm to have the remaining old war ammunition under the track removed first.
The track was taken out of service on Wednesday night, after which Infrabel specialists removed the tracks, sleepers and pebbles.
“After that, detectors were used to scan the ground. Layer by layer was carefully excavated to a depth of 60 centimetres below the tracks. When ammunition was found, the DOVO demining service was notified. A total of two canisters and about 10 burnt-out shells were found and defused. During the clean-up, access to the site was strictly limited,” said Britt Monten.
Now that this delicate operation is over, reconstruction by Infrabel will follow. By 4am Monday morning, the tracks, sleepers and shingle should be renewed. SNCB is running replacement buses in the meantime.
During the Whitsun weekend, Infrabel will carry out additional work on the ‘Bommensenspoor’. This mainly involves so-called revisions and checks on the stability of the track.
Work is also continuing on modernising the railway infrastructure at other locations (Essen, Kalmthout, Kapellen, Mariaburg and Antwerp-Luchtbal).
