Hanau railway accident in 1954

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The Hanau railway accident in the early morning of April 27, 1954 was the flanking of a local train on the Scandinavian Express as it entered the Hanau main station . Four dead and 97 injured were the result.

Starting position

Of Frankfurt next two-pronged südmainische distance to Hanau crosses just before the western entrance to the Hanau Central to Main on Steinheimer Main bridge and then branches out immediately in a two-pronged southern strand of Main-Spessart Railway and the northern two-track train for Kinzig Valley Railway .

For the Scandinavian Express coming from Basel and Frankfurt via this entrance, which was supposed to continue to Großenbrode Kai , the route was set in such a way that it drove onto the Kinzig Valley Railway. The train was 20 minutes late.

A passenger train coming from the Odenwaldbahn had previously entered the southern part of the Hanau main station and was supposed to continue its journey over the Main Bridge.

the accident

The local train had gotten exit from the Hanau main station. However, a light signal showing "Halt" then blocked the entrance from the southern to the northern tracks in front of the Main Bridge. At the same time, the Scandinavian Express ran over the bridge from the opposite direction. The locomotive driver of the passenger train ran over the signal instructing him to “stop” and the locomotive of the passenger train drove into the flank of the locomotive of the “Scandinavian Express”. The train crew saw the catastrophe coming and initiated an emergency brake. At the time of the accident, however, the train was still traveling at around 60 km / h. The engine driver and stoker of the express locomotive jumped off before the collision and were largely uninjured. Due to the force of the impact, the express train locomotive fell from the embankment . The train drivers and stokers who had previously jumped off were able to let off the steam from the overturned steam locomotive in order to prevent an impending boiler explosion . The locomotive immediately following car , a van and a dining car were smashed, then the following cars badly damaged. A passenger , the train conductor and two conductors died in the rubble . There were also 97 injured.

causes

The train driver of the passenger train stated that he recognized “green” on the light signal that had only been installed shortly before, meaning “free travel”. It could not be ruled out that the lighting conditions actually gave such an impression. As a result, light signals were provided with glare protection in order to exclude such deceptions.

literature

Remarks

  1. ^ So: Hanauer Anzeiger; Ritzau reports 65 injured.

Coordinates: 50 ° 7 ′ 29.6 ″  N , 8 ° 54 ′ 54.6 ″  E