On June 3, 1998, 101 people were killed and at least 88 were injured in the world's worst ever high-speed rail disaster.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Eschede train disaster

Tools
Coordinates: 52°44'04"N 010°13'13"E


The destruction of the rear passenger cars

Date: 3 June 1998; 26 years ago; 10:59
Location: Eschede (near Celle), Lower Saxony; 61 km (38 mi) N from Hanover
Country: Germany
Line: Hanover–Hamburg
Operator: Deutsche Bahn
Incident type: Derailment
Cause: Wheel disintegration due to metal fatigue

On 3 June 1998, an ICE 1 train on the Hannover-Hamburg railway near Eschede in Lower Saxony, Germany derailed and crashed into an overpass that crossed the railroad, which then collapsed onto the train. 101 people were killed and at least 88 were injured, making it the second-deadliest railway disaster in German history after the 1939 Genthin rail disaster, and the world's worst ever high-speed rail disaster.

The cause of the derailment was a single fatigue crack in one wheel, which caused a part of the wheel to become caught in a railroad switch (points), changing the direction of the switch as the train passed over it. This led to the train's carriages going down two separate tracks, causing the train to derail and crash into the pillars of a concrete road bridge, which then collapsed and crushed two coaches. The remaining coaches and the rear power car crashed into the wreckage.

After the incident, many investigations into the wheel fracture took place. Analysis concluded that the accident was caused by poor wheel design which allowed a fatigue fracture to develop on the wheel rim.[1] Investigators also considered other contributing factors, including the failure to stop the train, and maintenance procedures.

The disaster had legal and technical consequences including trials, fines and compensation payments. The wheel design was modified and train windows were made easier to break in an emergency. A memorial place was opened at the place of the disaster.

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Further reading
• O'Connor, Bryan, (NASA), https://web.archive.org/web/20110824041537/http://pbma.nasa.gov/docs/public/pbma/images/msm/Eschede_Train_Disaster_050707.pdf, "Eschede Train Disaster," Leadership ViTS Meeting, 7 May 2007

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[EYESORE 9001]

1. Welcome to my nightmare

For some segments of my working life, anyway. And not necessarily wheels on rail cars specifically. Everything from line-by-line examination of potential modes of failure before production even begins to the failure analysis done after the fact. Aerospace was perhaps the most worrisome for me - especially components of the landing gear. I never handled wreckage from anything associated with poor design on my part, but I’ve been close to it. Thankfully, I wasn’t involved with design - or even Quality to a great extent - at that point in time. I just got to examine the results from actual failures on vehicles - some of which could have been catastrophic.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

2. Follow that link to the NASA website and cancel any other plans you had for the rest of the day.

Last edited Tue Jun 4, 2024, 11:18 AM - Edit history (1)

And good morning.

[EYESORE 9001]

3. You remember the Challenger disaster?

The company I was working for manufactured components for the external fuel tank. Many within that organization breathed a sigh of relief when the root cause was found to be a component from another supplier.