Railway accident in Kapfenberg

In the railway accident in Kapfenberg on 21 October 1918. Kapfenberg , Styria , Austria , three were trains involved. 13 people died.

Starting position

The furlough train no. 32c was on drive north on the Southern Railway . He had stopped at Kapfenberg train station .

The freight train 847, south on the same route on the way, was before the entry signal of the station Kapfenberg been forgotten where he already was one hour: stationed in front Kapfenberg block wardens had to train sleepy and not reported to the local train station.

The train that followed was express train No. 5 from Vienna to Ljubljana . A baggage car ran after the locomotive , followed by the saloon car of the director of the southern railway responsible for the locomotives, then a rail mail car and finally the passenger car . When he approached the last train station in front of Kapfenberg, Marein , its exit signal was initially still on "Stop".

the accident

The Marein dispatcher had already been on duty for 19 hours at this point. His call to the next block attendant revealed that he had slept through the passage of freight train 847 and that its signal in the direction of Kapfenberg was still on "Clear travel". Instead of asking him to set this signal to “stop” and to research the whereabouts of the freight train, the dispatcher manipulated his security system and pulled the exit signal from Marein for the express train to “free travel”. The block attendant did nothing either: he neither pulled his signal to “stop” nor asked where the freight train was. The express train then drove past the signals indicating "Drive free".

At the Kapfenberg train station, the dispatcher decided - at this point already 16 hours on duty - to first dispatch the holiday train and then to pull the arrival signal for the expected express train. Of course, the engine driver of the freight train referred this to himself and drove off. At that moment the express train hit the end of the freight train. Because of the thick fog and a curve, the engine driver recognized the end signal of the freight train very late. The first five cars on the express train derailed and were badly damaged. The first three of these cars piled on top of each other and began to burn. Nine wagons at the end of the freight train were also damaged. The holiday train just leaving the Kapfenberg train station drove into the rubble. Its locomotive overturned and the first three cars of this train also derailed.

consequences

13 people died, including the director of the southern railway who was responsible for the locomotives. In addition, 106 people were injured. The staff on all three trains, however, were unharmed.

literature

• Ludwig Stockert : Railway accidents (new episode) - Another contribution to railway operations theory . Berlin 1920, No. 57.

Coordinates: 47 ° 27 ′ 0.6 ″  N , 15 ° 18 ′ 23 ″  E