Yokohama Railway Accident (1963)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In the railway accident in Yokohama ( Japanese 鶴 見 事故 , Tsurumi jiko ) drove on November 9, 1963 in Yokohama between the Tsurumi and Shin-Koyasu stations on the Tōkaidō main line, two passenger trains in a previously derailed freight train .

Starting position

The multi-track line was operated by the Japanese State Railways (JNR).

the accident

In a very long freight train going to Tokyo , the 43rd to 45th wagons derailed at around 60 km / h and got into the clearance profile of an adjacent track in the opposite direction. Why the wagons derailed could not be determined at first. Both the railway infrastructure and the freight cars seemed technically in order.

An electric multiple unit , which was heading for Tokyo, drove into the derailed freight cars only seconds later. The railcar also derailed and tipped into the fourth and fifth carriages of a third, twelve-car-long train that was also heading for Tokyo.

consequences

162 people died in this accident and another 120 were injured.

The unexplained derailment led to years of trials by Japan Railways (JR) between 1967 and 1972 on a disused section of the Nemuro main line in Hokkaidō , on which the accident site was rebuilt and driven under test conditions with identical vehicles . The result was that the freight wagons probably derailed from a combination of causes. The construction and the degree of wear of the chassis and the track geometry at the scene of the accident had contributed to the accident.

As a consequence, the classic visual inspection as monitoring of the track was abandoned and measuring trains were introduced that could analyze the behavior of the track even when the vehicle was loaded.

Further worth knowing

Just a year and a half earlier, the Mikawashima railway accident on May 3, 1962, had resulted in a serious railway accident that had a very similar outcome. The freight train, which was initially derailed, had, however, run over a signal indicating “stop” .

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Saito, p. 11 with a picture of the accident site.
  2. ↑ Saito, p. 11 with a picture of an experimentally derailed freight car.

Coordinates: 35 ° 29 ′ 35.9 ″  N , 139 ° 39 ′ 50.2 ″  E