Dietikon railway accident
The railway accident in Dietikon was the flank of an express train in a shunting passenger train in the Dietikon station ( canton of Zurich ) in the early evening of August 17, 1915. Seven people died in the accident.
Starting position
The 2837 passenger train, a mixed train , was pulled by a tank locomotive. He traveled from Dietikon to Zurich . He had to park a few freight cars in the Dietikon train station . To do this, he had to cross the main track in the opposite direction. After he had parked the freight wagons, he took the same route back to the through track in the direction of Zurich.
The express train 122 from Zurich to Geneva ran in the opposite direction, without a scheduled stop in Dietikon . The train consisted of a steam locomotive , its tender and nine cars.
the accident
The dispatcher , who did not want to stop the express train, set the entry signal to the station to "free travel", although the passenger train had not yet completely cleared its route . The locomotive driver of the express train encountered a distant signal that signaled to him that he was waiting to leave, and also an entry signal that showed that he was moving. Because of a bend, he didn't have a great view of the route. So he recognized the other train on his track quite late. Although it braked immediately, the braking distance for the fast and heavy train was no longer sufficient to bring it to a stop before the collision. He hit the passenger train between the locomotive and the first car. The tank locomotive was thrown 20 meters to the side, the first car of the passenger train was heavy, the second also damaged. The express train, on the other hand, showed hardly any damage and did not even derail.
consequences
Seven people died and 26 others were injured, six of them seriously.
literature
- Bernhard Püschel: Historical railway disasters. A chronicle of accidents from 1840 to 1926 . Freiburg 1977. ISBN 3-88255-838-5
- The collision at the Dietikon station of the SBB on August 17, 1915 . In: Schweizerische Bauzeitung . tape 65 /66 (1915), No. 18, October 30, 1915, S. 207-209 , doi : 10.5169 / seals-32310 .
Web links
- Report of the Federal Council to the Federal Assembly on its management in 1915. Postal and Railway Department . In: Swiss Federal Gazette of March 29, 1916, p. 38.