Voghera railway accident

The Voghera railway accident on May 31, 1962 was a rear-end collision between a freight train and a passenger train standing in Voghera station on the Milan – Genoa railway line operated by Ferrovie dello Stato . This was one of the worst accidents in the history of the railway in Italy , with 64 deaths .

Starting position

Class E 626 locomotive as it was involved in the Voghera accident

Voghera station was a system-changing station between the DC- operated line from Milan and the AC- operated line to Genoa, so all trains had to stop here and change locomotives.

On track three station Voghera had on the night of the fast train 1391 from Milan to Genoa held. The train was very busy with 700 passengers : most of the passengers were day trippers to the Ligurian coast . The passenger train was about to leave the station at 2:35 a.m.

The freight train 8151 followed in the same compound. It consisted of 39 empty cement Dolly, was supported by a Electric locomotive of the series E.626 drawn and was the station Milano Smistamento after Arquata Scrivia go.

The entrance to the station was secured by an entry signal showing "Halt" and the corresponding distant signal , which was supposed to cover the passenger train against subsequent trains . However, the signals were not connected to an automatic train protection system that could trigger an emergency brake when a signal indicating "Stop" was passed.

the accident

As the evaluation of the tachograph later showed, the freight train had been traveling at speeds of 70 to 75 km / h since the Milano Rogoredo station , which was a very considerable speed for a freight train on this route at that time. This speed was also not reduced as he approached Voghera train station. This was all the more astonishing as the train had to stop in the station due to the change in the power systems, for technical reasons in order to harness another locomotive .

The freight train initially passed the entry signal showing "Halt". This was observed by a railway official who then signaled the engine driver by hand to stop. Only then did the engine driver brake - nine seconds and 170 m before the collision occurred at around 60 km / h: The freight train's locomotive smashed the passenger train's end car.

consequences

Memorial plaque at Voghera train station

64 people - all in the last passenger car of the passenger train - died, four of them later in the hospital. 36 people were also injured.

On the 40th anniversary of the accident, on May 31, 2002, a plaque was placed on the reception building of Voghera train station.

literature

• Ascanio Schneider u. Armin Masé: Disasters on the rails. Railway accidents, their causes and consequences . Zurich 1968, pp. 53–56.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ NN: Tragedia sui binari  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . In: Il Sole 24 Ore v. January 7, 2004.  
2. ↑ Seduta della Camera dei Deputati del 5 giugno 1962 (PDF, 1.6 MB) = steno graphic report of the Chamber of Deputies of the Italian Parliament v. 5th June 1962.

Coordinates: 44 ° 59 ′ 54 ″  N , 9 ° 0 ′ 39.2 ″  E