Several people using the metro were put in danger because of problems with the doors of metros that are over 40 years old in October.
On 27 October, a metro departed in station Hôtel des Monnaies while a man was stuck between the doors. The man had tried to get into the metro while the doors were already closing, and his arm and leg got stuck. In theory, the metro then shuts down automatically, but for reasons that are not yet clear, the safety system did not kick in.
The man, half hanging from the metro, hit the railing that closes the subway tunnel and ended up on the tracks. He was severely injured, reports La Capitale.
Several days before, the doors of a metro from the same type suddenly opened while the metro was moving at a velocity of 40 km/h. The incident happened when the metro entered the Houba-Brugmann station, preventing any casualties. A traveller opened the doors manually, according to STIB. One of the speed sensors did not work, causing the doors to open.
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The two metros have been taken out of circulation so that the technical defects can be further investigated, STIB confirmed. A spokeswoman said that, following a fatal incident in 2006, many measures had been taken at the De Brouckère metro stop to increase the safety of the old trains, which are mainly used on lines 2 and 6.
The precise cause of the malfunction is not yet clear, but STIB confirmed it is a technical issue, reports Bruzz.
The oldest STIB subway cars are over 40 years old but will still be in service for a while. When the new metros will be delivered for lines 1 and 5, the older ones will be used to increase the frequency on lines 2 and 6.
Maïthé Chini
The Brussels Times
