The first one was 34527 from Sucha Beskidzka to Żywiec, operated by EN57-840 EMU; the crew members were Czesław Gołuszka (driver) and Lucyna Kubieniec (conductor).

The second one was 43524 from Żywiec to Sucha Beskidzka, operated by EN57-1271 EMU; the crew consisted of driver Ryszard Budziak and conductor Maciej Polak.

When 34527 passed through Pewel Wielka, at 14:45 Gołuszka radioed the train dispatcher in Jeleśnia station, Danuta Gancarz, to inform about the danger and call for help.

Jeleśnia, zróbcie coś, stawcie przelot, bo nie mam hamowania Jeleśnia, do something, set the junctions,[4] I've got no brakes The railway rules of Polish law,[5] along with PKP Polskie Linie Kolejowe internal regulations,[6] state in general, that a runaway carriages, if possible, has to be directed onto a dead-end track, otherwise: derailed in any possible way.

Budziak did so, additionally sending the conductor Maciej Polak to the cab used in direction of Sucha so he could inform him about the distance between the trains.

When the distance decreased to 30 meters, Polak retreated into the passenger compartment after radioing it, while Budziak engaged the brakes of EN57-1271 in order to stop both trains before a railway bridge in Żywiec.

[8] The investigation determined that the cause was icing on composite brake blocks, with bad weather and temperature below zero as additional factors.

The final conclusion was that the composite brake blocks made of FR502 material used in EN57 EMUs in Poland were dangerous to the safety of Polish railways.

[9][13] In the years 2002-2003, there were performed tests in the Mazowieckie and Beskidy mountains area, that led to obtaining a prolongation of "Świadectwo dopuszczenia do eksploatacji" safety certificate (allowing brake pads operation) issued by Urząd Transportu Kolejowego (Polish Office of Rail Transport).

"The decision made in relation to Frenoplast (...) begins to take on a new meaning, and the answear to question: is this fuss about train drivers and passengers safety?