Railway accident in Leipzig

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The Leipzig railway accident was the head-on collision of two trains between the Leipzig-Mockau and Leipzig Hauptbahnhof stations on May 15, 1960. At least 54 people died. It was one of the most serious railway accidents of the Deutsche Reichsbahn in the GDR .

Starting position

E 44 136, sister locomotive of the accident locomotive at Leipzig Central Station (1958)

Trains, the station Leipzig main station in the direction of Halle exports, first had the command signal box B3 happen, then the guards interlocking W7. Both were electromechanical interlockings , the interlocking B3 a four-row lever mechanism of the VES design .

At around 20:20 the train Sg 5556 had entered from Halle via platform 9 to platform 15 of the Leipzig main station. At around 20:20, the dispatcher of signal box B3 gave the keeper of signal box W7 the order to set the route for the exit of P  466 from platform 11 to Halle. The P 466 was hauled by the E 44 053 electric locomotive. At the same time the entrance of the was e 17,123 strung E  237 of Halberstadt expected, which should enter via track 9 in the track 12th The train route to be set for the E 237 included the turnout 268, which was supposed to provide flank protection for the P 466 and belonged to the control area of ​​the W7 interlocking.

the accident

When the employees wanted to set the route for the P 466, the switch 268 could be changed, but the monitoring relay did not pick up. This meant that the associated main signal could not be set to drive. Therefore, employees in signal box B 3 looked for an alternative route for the E 237, which would avoid the disturbed switch. The employees of the signal box W 7 decided to let the P 466 drive past the stop signal with a written command : The switch 268 was correctly positioned, only the monitoring was disturbed. But they forgot to convert the following points 262 and 263 in the route, which had remained unchanged since the Sg 5556 entered, for the P 466. Without an exact route check, they passed the route safety report to the dispatcher, who agreed to allow the train to continue with a written order.

The dispatcher let the P 466 leave. The train came to a stop at the signal from the signal box W7, which covered points 262, 263 and 268, among other things. An employee of the signal box handed the locomotive driver the written order, contrary to the regulations, to continue the journey: On the one hand, the order should have been signed by the dispatcher of signal box B3 with "signed". So that this would not be noticed, employees of the signal box had issued the order about an hour earlier. They also gave the train driver both copies of the order, including the one that should have been given to the train driver who was in the baggage car at the end of the train .

The engine driver was probably only superficially aware of the order, at least he drove off. Without noticing it, he opened the switch 262 and reached the track in the opposite direction via the other switch 263. The engine driver either didn't notice this or reacted incorrectly, drove on and accelerated quickly. Here the route has remained unchanged since the entrance of the Sg 5556, on which the E 237 approached.

The employees of the signal box W7 observed the drive of the P 466 into the wrong route and panicked. Instead of alerting the B10 signal box about 500 meters further in the direction of travel of the train - which was not involved in journeys to and from Halle, but was located directly next to the affected tracks - they only notified their dispatcher at the B3 signal box, who did nothing because it was further away from the departing train than the signal box W7.

In the vicinity of the approach signal and the Berlin bridge, at the level of the Leipzig wool combing , the trains collided head-on in an arch. Several cars on both trains derailed.

consequences

54 people died and 240 others were injured. Among the dead were the engine driver of the P 466 and the parents of the painter Neo Rauch, who was just a month old .

In order to relieve themselves, the employees of the signal boxes tried to adjust the deliberately incorrectly entered time of day on the copy of the command and in the log book of signal box B3. The forgery was recognized, however, because the original of the command could be recovered from the completely shattered driver's cab of the locomotive.

Prime Minister Otto Grotewohl gave the Minister of Transport Erwin Kramer , who had gone to the scene of the accident that night, special power of attorney and entrusted him with the management of the relief operation for those affected and their families.

Legal processing

The accident was heard before a Leipzig criminal chamber , which also included two railway workers as lay judges . As part of the investigation, numerous sloppinesses on the signal boxes had become known, all of which the accused were now charged with. The court therefore classified the behavior of the signal box employees as an intentional transport hazard. As a result, long-term penitentiary sentences were imposed in a judgment on December 16, 1960 : 15 years for the signalman and twelve years for the switchman from the W7 signal box. The dispatcher received ten years and his assistant eight years; both were employees in signal box B3. In the appeal which followed Supreme Court of the GDR not this judgment. It recognized negligence through negligent performance of the service. Accordingly, the penalties have been reduced considerably. There were also no prison sentences, only prison sentences . Signal and switch keepers each received five years imprisonment , the dispatcher three and his assistant two years.

literature

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ The figure for the number of deaths fluctuates between 54 and 59, depending on the source.Either the smaller number of 54 deaths relates to those who died directly at the scene of the accident, while the number 59 probably also includes the victims who died later in the hospitals, or the smaller number means the passengers killed, while the larger number includes the railway workers.
  2. ↑ Ritzau names the number of 206 injured.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ bk: death turnout.

Coordinates: 51 ° 21 ′ 1.2 ″  N , 12 ° 23 ′ 10.1 ″  E