Villafranca del Campo railway accident

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The Villafranca del Campo railway accident was a head-on collision of a freight train with a passenger train between the stations of Villafranca del Campo and Santa Eulalia del Campo , Teruel , in Spain on the Zaragoza – Valencia railway line on December 19, 1966, after one of the engine drivers made a “stop “Had overlooked the pointing signal. 40 people died.

TAF railcars ( RENFE - Class 595 ) as they were involved in the accident.

Starting position

The single-track railway line had no signal-dependent train protection .

On it was a two railcars educated local train of the Series 595 ( "TAF" for "Tren car engine FIAT ") from Teruel to Saragossa road that the station Villafranca del Campo to driving. The weather was cold and foggy . Most of the passengers had sat in the front railcar because the heating worked most efficiently here.

A freight train ran in the opposite direction, pulled by a steam locomotive, returning empty freight cars for the transport of citrus fruits from the French border to Valencia . This train was eight hours late, so each of its intersections was unscheduled . The dispatcher wanted to run the crossing between the two trains at Villafranca del Campo station . He therefore set the entry signal for the freight train to "Free travel", but the exit signal to "Stop".

the accident

The locomotive driver of the freight train overlooked the signal showing "stop" because of the fog, drove through the Villafranca del Campo station - although the station staff also tried to signal him "stop" - and into the track on which the local train was coming. The fog was so thick here that the locomotive drivers, although the route runs dead straight here, only noticed the train on the way when they could no longer brake adequately. Both trains were still traveling at around 80 km / h. Between the stations of Villafranca del Campo and Santa Eulalia del Campo came so at kilometer 89.5 at 8:10 pm collision . The heavy freight locomotive completely smashed the front railcar, the rear part came to rest on the remains of the front. The diesel fuel ignited and the wreckage immediately began to burn, adding to the number of victims.

consequences

40 people died, including the driver. 12 were also injured. An injured railway worker walked to Villafranca del Campo train station to get help.

literature

  • NN: Trágico accidente ferroviario en Teruel . In: Hoja del Lunes v. December 19, 1966, p. 1.
  • NN: Violento choque de dos trenes en tierras de Teruel . In: La Vanguardia v. December 20, 1966, p. 1.
  • Ascanio Schneider u. Armin Masé: Disasters on the rails. Railway accidents, their causes and consequences . Zurich 1968, p. 39f.

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ Schneider names 29 dead.
  2. ↑ Schneider names the 597 and claims that it was a TER with the train number 200 - none of the Spanish-language sources speaks of it.
  3. ↑ Schneider names 29 dead.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ NN: 40 killed ; Description at Europhoto .
  2. ^ Accidente ferroviario .
  3. ^ Accidente ferroviario .
  4. ↑ NN: 40 killed .
  5. ↑ Tailor.
  6. ^ Accidente ferroviario .
  7. ↑ description at Euro Photo .
  8. ↑ NN: 40 killed ; Accidente ferroviario .
  9. ↑ NN: 40 killed .
  10. ↑ NN: 40 killed ; Cutter.
  11. ↑ Tailor.


Coordinates: 40 ° 38 ′ 26.1 ″  N , 1 ° 20 ′ 31.5 ″  W.