#electrical train

The 'ghost’ train is 520 Ilse de Lange. In 2016 she was involved in a horrible accident, where she crashed into a bucket truck on a level crossing in Dalfsen. You can read more about it here. The driver was killed, passengers injured and Ilse’s front end was all but destroyed. She was sent back to Poland to be repaired, where - just for her - the whole Stadler GTW factory branch was started up again to almost rebuild her from scratch. Only her rear unit (which wasn’t involved in the crash) could be saved. 

However, due to a problem with paperwork, she wasn’t allowed back into the Netherlands. So there she stood for years, brand new, waiting silently. Until finally, in the summer of 2019 she was allowed to come home. She was sparkly smooth, brand new from the box. I witnessed her test runs, her very first ‘official’ ride from the workshop back to her home stretch, and in regular service again on her home turf in Zwolle. At that time she didn’t carry her name yet, but it was later added again. I can only imagine the surprise of the other GTWs, seeing their ‘long dead’ colleague happily back at work.