Missing brake, insufficient controls. Railway Inspectorate published the causes of the Ještěd cable car accident
The corroded tow rope breaks, but also the missing automatic brake, which was removed more than 30 years ago. Three years after the tragic accident on the cable car to Ještěd, the Railway Inspectorate issued a final report summarising what led to the collapse of one of the cabins. The Railway Inspectorate identified insufficient supervision by the Railway Authority as the systemic cause. With regard to the braking system, the Railway Inspectorate stated that its elements had been unlawfully removed in contravention of the legislation, standards and technical documentation of the cableway “Liberec-Horní Hanychov – Ještěd”. Another cause of the accident, which occurred on 31 October 2021, was, according to the Railway Inspectorate, the regular recognition of the cableway technique “as fit for operation despite apparent contradictions of the actual state of affairs with the legal regulations, standards and technical documentation, which precluded fitness for operation.”