A EuroCity express train en route from Kraków, Poland to Prague, Czech Republic strikes a part of a motorway bridge that had fallen onto the railroad track near Studénka railway station in the Czech Republic and derails, killing eight people and injuring 64 others.
On 8 August 2008, at approximately 10:30 local time (8:30 UTC), EuroCity train EC 108 Comenius, en route from Krakw, Poland, to Prague, Czech Republic, struck a part of a motorway bridge that had fallen onto the railroad track near the Studnka railway station in the Czech Republic. The train derailed, killing eight people and injuring 64.
EuroCity, abbreviated as EC, is a cross-border train category within the European inter-city rail network. In contrast to trains allocated to the lower-level "IC" (InterCity) category, EC trains are international services that meet 20 criteria covering comfort, speed, food service, and cleanliness. Each EC train is operated by more than one European Union or Swiss rail company, under a multilateral co-operative arrangement, and all EC trains link important European cities with each other.The EuroCity label replaced the older Trans Europ Express (TEE) name for border-crossing trains in Europe. Whereas TEE services were first-class only, EuroCity trains convey first and second class coaches. The EuroCity schedule was designed with train pairs running one train in both directions, thus resulting in a more frequent service than the TEE, which normally ran only once a day.