Zagreb train disaster

Infobox rail accident


caption =
title = Zagreb train disaster
date = August 30, 1974
location = Zagreb, Croatia
line = Belgrade-Dortmund
cause = Derailment due to excessive speed
trains =
pax =
deaths = 153
injuries = 60

The Zagreb train disaster occurred on August 30, 1974, when an express train traveling from Belgrade to Dortmund derailed before entering Zagreb station (then in SFR Yugoslavia, present-day Croatia), killing 153 people. It was the worst rail accident in the country’s history to that date and remains one of the worst in Europe’s history.

Cause of the crash

At the approach to Zagreb's main railway station, the railway line curves sharply just before the station. This curvature is severe enough to require the imposition of a speed limit of convert|48|km/h|abbr=on|lk=on. The train which was travelling at high speed, ignored a stop signal and proceeded to enter the curve at convert|96|km/h|abbr=on. [http://danger-ahead.railfan.net/accidents/zagreb.htm]

At the subsequent inquiry, the driver and his assistant claimed that the locomotive brakes had failed. However, tests proved that the brakes were functioning perfectly adequately. The inquiry demonstrated that the accident would not have occurred if the train had obeyed the speed restriction and the disaster was blamed solely on the engineers. They received prison terms of 15 and 8 years. There was some dispute as to whether the engineers were drunk or had just fallen asleep; it is known for certain that they had already worked 300 hours each that month and may have been suffering from fatigue. [http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do?action=Article&id=50675]

References

External links

* [http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do?action=Article&id=50675 This Day in History 1974: Train crashes into station in Yugoslavia] (History Channel)
* [http://danger-ahead.railfan.net/accidents/zagreb.htm Danger Ahead! Zagreb 1974]