German trains in deadly head-on crash

[pre65]

At least nine people were killed and scores more injured, police say, after two passenger trains collided in the German state of Bavaria.
The head-on crash happened near Bad Aibling, a spa town about 60km (37 miles) south-east of Munich.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-35530538

[ianrail]

A bad accident with both drivers and train guards apparently killed. All our thoughts must be with the families of the victims. Clearly we will have to await the results of official investigations but Deutsche Bahn does seem to have had a number of serious incidents over the past couple of years.

[Beeyar Wunby]

Very sad, our thoughts go out to the victims.

A strange occurance. Head on collision on a single line, where a trainstop system is fitted. Very odd.

We'll watch this with interest.

BW.

[Sentinel]

Terrible news. Poor people.

One wonders how so many apparently fail-safe safety systems failed ...

Though apparently normally the train would have been packed with children going to school (it's half-term in Germany) ...

[27vet]

Very sad. R.I.P.

[27vet]

A very quick preliminary finding and somewhat disturbing

Human error by a train controller was to blame for a crash in Bavaria, Germany, last week that killed 11 people, prosecutors said.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-35585302

[Beeyar Wunby]

Thanks for that information. That's very quick for a preliminary report.

It strikes me as really scary - that a signaller can override the safety system and allow two trains onto a single line.

I drive over 2 single lines several times every day, and it's never occured to me that an accident like this could technically be allowed to happen.

So much for interlocking then - I thought that a bi-directional line wasn't able to clear signals in both directions at once. It will be interesting to see how this system was configured.

Hmm. Very sad.

BW

[Sentinel]

Human error? I'm sure the full truth will come out eventually. You have to feel for the person involved. Whether 'guilty' of tiredness, or being made a scapegoat, its a heavy burden to have to live with.

[Resolution]

I have to say, I'm still totally baffled by this..... I cannot believe that the German Railway System could, under ANY circumstances, allow ANYONE to set conflicting routing in this day and age! EVEN IF THEY WANTED TO!!!!

There MUST surely be more to come from this. The explanation given so far simply does NOT wash!

[Beeyar Wunby]

Originally Posted by Resolution

I have to say, I'm still totally baffled by this..... I cannot believe that the German Railway System could, under ANY circumstances, allow ANYONE to set conflicting routing in this day and age! EVEN IF THEY WANTED TO!!!!

Absolutely. The principle of signalling is only one train in one one block at any time.

There is a posibility though that the signaller incorrectly authorised one of the trains to pass a signal at danger. One of the initial reports by a passenger stated that the train which normally has to stop and wait for the line to clear, slowed down on the approach to the single line but then carried on.

In this country the signaller couldn't authorise a driver to just pass a signal at danger at the entrance to a single line. Because this is 'degraded working' the instructions require a pilotman to ride with each train - and he/she acts effectively as the Single Line Token.

Originally Posted by Rulebook Module P2 (Working Single & Bi-directional lines by Pilotman)

When working by pilotman must be introduced
1.1
Circumstances
Except as shown in section 1.2, working by pilotman must be
introduced when any of the following applies.
a) The token has been lost.
b) Trains have to work to and from the point of obstruction.
c) The signal controlling the entrance to a single or
bi-directional line cannot be cleared or a movement
authority (MA) cannot be received by a train for any of the
following reasons.
1. The signal or signalling equipment has failed or has been
disconnected.
2. A track circuit has failed.
3. Level-crossing equipment has failed.
4. The token instrument has failed.

There's a hint in the Beeb article of some human wrong-doing, and not adhering to the rules.

Originally Posted by the Beeb

Human error by a train controller was to blame for a crash in Bavaria, Germany, last week that killed 11 people, prosecutors said.....

"If he had complied with the rules... there would have been no collision," said Chief Prosecutor Wolfgang Giese.

Strange. The German psyche is based very much on obeying rules - and I mean that with respect.

Hope this helps.

BW