The safety of rail infrastructure – a case study of the derailment of a freight wagon on railway line no. 273, the Głogów – Krzepów route

<ns3:p>This paper concerns an analysis of the causes and consequences of a land traffic disaster that occurred within the PKP PLK network in September 2018 on railway line no. 273, on the Głogów – Krzepów route, and involved derailment of a freight wagon. The paper presents an analysis of the technical condition of the wagon and the impact of an inadequately secured load on its derailment. The analysis presented here is the result of expert work conducted by the author for PKP PLK as a railway expert appointed to investigate identify the causes of a wagon derailment on a newly built railway track. The established causes of the derailment became evidence in the investigation to demonstrate the direct causal factor in the land traffic disaster.</ns3:p>