A Dutch train burst past the end of its elevated tracks Monday in the Netherlands. Maarten Struijs, who made the sculpture of two tails emerging from water beneath the elevated metro line, said he was surprised the sculpture had held together. Last modified on Thu 5 Nov 2020 14.08 EST. The front carriage of a train that landed on a sculpture of a whale’s tail after ploughing through the end of an elevated section of track has been painstakingly lowered to the ground. The Metro train, in a suburb of Rotterdam, ran through stop buffers in the early hours of Monday but was spared a 10m drop thanks to the 2002 “Whale Tail” art installation. This content is not available in your region, Whale tail sculpture saves derailed metro train from disaster. SPIJKENISSE, Netherlands (AP) — The front carriage of a Dutch metro train that landed on a sculpture of a whale’s tail after plowing through the end of an elevated section of rails was painstakingly lifted clear of the artwork Tuesday and lowered to the ground. A general view of a metro that crashed through a stop block and landed on an artwork of a whale tail at De Akkers subway station in Spijkenisse, near Roterdam, Netherlands November 2, 2020. 120 whales have been rescued on a beach in Sri Lanka, Dutch court upholds terror conviction for 2018 Amsterdam station stabbings, Dutch government halts KLM bailout amid disagreement over cost cuts, Coronavirus: Netherlands joins neighbours in tightening COVID-19 restrictions amid surge in cases. Read more: Netflix places a statue of Mozart’s sister to celebrate history’s overshadowed women > The statue, coincidentally entitled Saved by a Whale's Tale, had not been intended to actually save a train. Metro train overran stop, coming to halt 10 metres above ground on huge plastic tail, Mon 2 Nov 2020 06.26 EST An elevated tram ran past the end of its tracks in Rotterdam on Monday, but instead of plunging 10 meters to the ground from a pier it came to rest delicately on top of a statue of a whale's tail. The train smashed through a safety barrier at De Akkers metro station in Spijkenisse but a large sculpture of a whale tail at the station safely held the carriages aloft. A runaway Dutch metro train was saved from disaster after it smashed through a stop barrier but then came to rest on a giant sculpture of a whale's tail. He said: “I could never have imagined it that way, but it saved the operator’s life. The whale's tail of a sculpture caught the front carriage of a metro train as it rammed through the end of an elevated section of rails with the driver escaping injuries in Spijkenisse, near Rotterdam, Netherlands, Monday, Nov. 2, 2020. An elevated tram ran past the end of its tracks in Rotterdam on Monday, but instead of plunging 10 meters to the ground from a pier it came to rest delicately on top of a statue of a whale’s tail. Derailed Metro Whale Tail Sculpture in Holland | The wagon of a derailed subway in the Netherlands was suspended from the tail of a plastic whale statue after it crossed the safety barrier. Quite a tail to tell! Available for everyone, funded by readers. The metro driver was able to get out of the train himself and was taken to hospital as a precaution, according to a spokesman for the Rotterdam transport company, RET. The … A giant art sculpture of two whale tails saved a Dutch train that overran the track from disaster by bringing it to a stop, preventing it from plunging to the ground below. © 2020 Guardian News & Media Limited or its affiliated companies. "Of course it does look rather poetic," artist … It features two large whale tails poking out of the water, one of which saved the train. All rights reserved. "But it's really lucky that the tail can bear the weight of the train." Train crashes through barrier at Dutch station - and lands on giant whale sculpture 25ft in the air. Whale tail sculpture catches train after it crashes off track Emergency services are busy at the scene and have warned that the rescue operation will take time. A TRAIN driver was left dangling 30ft above water after bursting through buffers at the end of the line - and coming to rest on a giant whale sculpture. View this post on Instagram. The statue, coincidentally entitled "Saved by a Whale's Tale", had not been intended to actually save a train. A runaway Dutch metro train was saved from disaster on Monday after it smashed through a stop barrier but then came to rest on a giant sculpture of a whale's tail. A Dutch metro train was saved from disaster when it smashed through a safety barrier but was prevented from plummeting into water by a sculpture of a whale tail, in Spijkenisse, near the port city of Rotterdam, early Monday, Nov. 2, 2020. The train is now suspended 10 metres above a footpath, thanks to the whale’s tail, and is likely to remain there for some time. It is made of reinforced polyester. A Dutch metro train has become an unlikely addition to a piece of urban art after it derailed, crashed through safety barriers, and came to a halt on the top of a sculpture of a whale's tail. It is unclear what caused the accident. According to the news site, the accident occurred just after midnight at 00.30 on November 2 in a suburb of Rotterdam when a train ran through stop buffers at the end of the line. A Dutch metro train has become an unlikely addition to a piece of urban art after it derailed, crashed through safety barriers, and came to a halt on the top of a sculpture of a whale's tail. The driver has since been arrested and is being questioned by police. The aptly-named sculpture is called, "Saved by the Whale's Tail," and the incident occurred at De Akkers metro station in Spijkenisse, near Rotterdam. "Of course it does look rather poetic," artist and architect Maarten Struijs was quoted as saying by the Algemeen Dagblad newspaper. This train in the Netherlands has been saved from falling off the end of a raised track by a sculpture of a whale. Its original name was Whale Tails – but within hours of the train incident the local authority renamed it Saved by a Whale’s Tale. Train Runs Off Elevated Tracks, Is Caught By Statue Of A Whale's Tail The train burst past the end of its elevated tracks in the Netherlands. The carriage was left resting around 10 metres in the air on a large sculpture of a whale's tail. Trains are still able to travel through De Akkers station on Monday, according to a statement by emergency services. A Dutch tube train crashed through the buffers at the end of a metro line yesterday morning and was only stopped from plunging ten metres to the ground by a giant sculpture of a whale’s tail.The A metro train that overran the stop blocks at a station outside Rotterdam has been left balancing 10 metres above ground on the plastic tail of a whale sculpture. A metro train that overran the stop blocks at a station outside Rotterdam has been left balancing 10 metres above ground on the plastic tail of a whale sculpture. The train passed through a stop block at De Akkers station in Spijkenisse on the outskirts of Rotterdam at around 00.30 on Monday morning. The artwork was erected in 2002 by the De Akkers station in Spijkenisse on the outskirts of Rotterdam, in the Dutch province of South Holland. An elevated tram ran past the end of its tracks in Rotterdam on Monday, but instead of plunging 10 meters to the ground from a pier it came to rest delicately on top of a statue of a whale's tail. A metro train serving the town of Spijkenisse, near Rotterdam, has crashed through the barrier at the end of the track and only the sculpture of a whale has stopped it plummeting into the water below. Anti-Lukashenko protesters in Belarus try out new strategy to outsmart authorities • This article was amended on 5 November 2020 to explain that the whale sculpture began life with a name different from the one hastily bestowed by the local authority after the train incident. The statue, coincidentally named "Saved by a Whale's Tale", had not been intended to actually save a train. Half of one of the metro carriages came to rest on the sculpture and became stranded around ten metres above the street and surrounding water. The sculpture was built around 20 years ago in a park underneath the raised metro, its name a deliberate play on the fact that it is a “tail track” at the end of the line. A large whale sculpture has stopped a train from crashing into the ground after it broke through a barrier at a Dutch station. Photo by Robin Utrecht / ANP / AFP via Getty Images When plastic has stood for 20 years, you don’t expect it to hold up a metro train.”. The metro driver was reportedly able to free himself from the train without injury after the incident shortly after midnight on Monday morning. There were no passengers onboard. Metro train accidentally comes to rest on whale tail artwork in the early hours of Monday morning. Instead of crashing into the water 10 metres (30 feet) below, the front carriage ended up suspended dramatically in the air, propped up only by the silver cetacean. The damage is an afterthought. “I am amazed that it is so strong. No injuries have been reported for the incident, although the train has suffered extensive damage. The statue, coincidentally entitled "Saved by a Whale's Tale", had not been intended to actually save a train. It was as yet unclear what caused the train to overrun the station. The emergency services were seeking to secure the scene on Monday. “Given the complexity, this will take some time,” a spokesman for the Rotterdam-Rijnmond safety region said. 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