Mekece railway accident

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In the Mekece railway accident on July 22, 2004, the Yahya Kemal Ekspresi of the TCDD derailed near the village of Mekece in the Pamukova district of the Turkish province of Sakarya as a result of excessive speed in a curve. 41 people died.

Starting position

The Yahya Kemal Ekspresi was only used on June 4, 2004 as a new high-speed connection between Istanbul and Ankara on the historic route of the Anatolian Railway . It was not a high-speed train ("high-speed train"), as in the subsequent reports inaccurately claimed again and again. Rather, it was a light express train that, thanks to optimal use of the given infrastructure, covered the route in 5 hours 15 minutes as scheduled . The train consisted of a locomotive and 5 passenger cars and was traveling from Istanbul to Ankara . About 230 travelers were on the train.

the accident

On the day of the accident, the train took a tight curve with a radius of 345 m at 183 km near Mekece (near Adapazarı ) at 132 km / h. The maximum permissible speed here was 80 km / h. This meant a lateral centrifugal force for the vehicles that exceeded the permissible value by three times. As a result, the last axle of the rear bogie of the second wagon derailed at km 183 + 347. The car left the lane, struck the concrete fortification of a small bridge that led the route over a drainage ditch, was disconnected from the train and turned 180 degrees. The air brake line tore , which automatically triggered an emergency stop. The locomotive, which remained on the track , came to a stop about 300 meters after the scene of the accident, but all of the cars derailed and the first two cars overturned.

consequences

41 people died and 90 others were injured. The engine driver and his assistant were arrested and sentenced in the first instance to 30 and 15 months in prison . On the other hand - in 2009 and 2010 - two successful appeals due to procedural errors. In addition, the court assumed that the TCDD was complicit , and the superstructure and signal errors were mentioned . In 2012 the judiciary closed the proceedings due to the statute of limitations .

In the Turkish parliament , the accident led to a motion of no confidence in the transport minister. The state railway TCDD was accused of having put fast trains into operation, despite warnings, whose travel times could only be met on the old tracks by exceeding the speed limit. The investigation report clearly refuted this: If the prescribed speed had been adhered to, the accident would not have occurred. The superstructure was able to cope with the scheduled speeds. The travel time of 5 hours 15 minutes for the 577 km required top speeds of only 140 km / h and an average speed of only 110 km / h.

literature

  • Jgnaz Civelli: German rails in Ottoman soil: a virtual journey with the Anatolian and Baghdad railways through history, perceptions, space and time . 2010, p. 150.
  • Coenraad Esveld: Final Report. Investigation of the train accident on July 22, 2004 near Pamukova, Turkey . September 3, 2004.
  • NN: Two serious accidents at the Turkish State Railways . In: Eisenbahn-Revue International , 10/2004, ISSN  1421-2811 , p. 437.

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ All information, unless otherwise noted, from: Esveld: Final Report .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ This extended to a corresponding inaccurate report in the travel advice of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office , London , see: here ( memento of the original from January 6, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / collections.europarchive.org
  2. ^ Civelli: German rails .
  3. ^ Civelli: German rails .
  4. ↑ Information according to: NN: Train crash .
  5. ↑ ap: Turkish government .
  6. ^ NN: Train crash case .
  7. ^ NN: Accident case .
  8. ↑ ap: Turkish government .
  9. ↑ Esveld: Final Report .


Coordinates: 40 ° 25 '59.7 "  N , 30 ° 2' 50.3"  E