Hachiōji railway accident
The Hachiōji railway accident ( Japanese 八 高 線 列車 正面 衝突 事故 , Hachikō-sen ressha shōmen shōtotsu jiko , "head-on collision on the Hachikō line") on August 27, 1945 was a head-on collision between two trains on a bridge , in which 105 people died.
Starting position
The end of the war was within reach, Japan's surrender took place on September 2, and both trains were overcrowded with demobilized soldiers and people returning from the evacuation .
The Hachikō Line crosses the Tama River between Komiya and Hachiōji stations , west of Tokyo , and was only a single track in this section at the time . The Tama was flooding due to heavy rainfall and had stepped out of the river bed.
the accident
After a lightning strike were signaling the route and the communication between the stations disturbed. Without observing the safety measures required in such a case, the two inexperienced dispatchers at Komiya and Hachiōji stations each sent a train , each consisting of a locomotive and five passenger cars , on the route. The frontal collision occurred at 7:40 a.m. on the bridge over the Tama. Both trains crashed into the river.
consequences
105 people died, 67 were also injured.
literature
- Masao Saito: Japanese Railway Safety and Technology of the Day. (PDF, 2.4 MB) In: Japanese Railway & Transport Review (No. 33). East Japan Railway Culture Foundation, December 2002, pp. 4–13 (8f) , accessed November 17, 2019 .
Coordinates: 35 ° 41 ′ 39.7 ″ N , 139 ° 21 ′ 47.2 ″ E