User:Nagy Levedi/The one in Budapest cogwheel accident of 1987

The accident of the Budapest cog railway on January 11, 1987 was one of the most serious public transport accidents in the Hungarian capital, and the most tragic event of the line itself. In the accident, an unstoppable train of the gear train ran downhill into another train going uphill, killing both drivers and injuring some of the passengers.

History

On Sunday, January 11, 1987, a very intense snowfall began in the central part of Europe, including Hungary, which continued in the following days, almost paralyzing the country until the end of the following week, causing a great deal of traffic chaos and supply difficulties

That morning, one of the downhill trains of the mountain railway derailed on the cogwheel line of Budapest's Orgonás station on the mountain side, so until the affected track section was cleared, trains could only run between Városmajor and Orgonás, and between the Esze Tamás School stop and the Széchenyi-hegy terminus. All four axles of the railcar with track number 57 left the track and slid between the two tracks of the station, trailer 67 derailed only with its bogie on the valley side.

On the lower section of the line, the assembly consisting of carriages numbered 53 and 63 was running, whose main task for the next few hours was to carry the cranes and other equipment required for the technical rescue to the site (inaccessible by road). One of the trains running on the mountain side, the train composed of cars numbered 52 and 62, also stopped running, its driver stopped it due to a brake failure and secured it above car 67.

During the day, the technical rescue workers managed to put car number 67 back on the tracks, and car 57 was placed in such a position, near the platform of the first track, that at least on the deviating track it would not touch the space section of the trains and prevent their movement. After the car was chained in this position, car 67 and train 52-62 were brought down to the Városmajor traffic station of the cogwheel line. After that, during the day, traffic resumed along the entire length of the line, and the train with brake problems also returned to traffic.

The crash

After eight in the evening - according to some data at 8:05 p.m., according to other sources around 8:30 p.m. - the brake system of the train 52-62 traveling in the valley stopped working after leaving Szabadság-hegy (today: Svábhegy) station, so the train Városkút at the stop, Gyöngyvirág utca (today: Adonis utca) and Erdei school stations, he was no longer able to stop, and in the area of the next stop, the Esze Tamás School stop, accelerating freely on the slope (at an estimated speed of around 80-100 km/h) he ran into the into assembly 53-63 from the eye. Motorcar No. 52 completely plowed into trailer No. 63, and the force of the collision caused both to roll all the way to Orgonás station, where they stopped next to or slid against Car No. 57, which had derailed in the morning. Both sets of trains were torn in two: the trailer of the downbound train remained at the scene of the accident - so it was barely damaged - while motor car 53 of the other train from the valley side continued on from Orgonás, all the way to the terminus in Városmajor, where - having slowed down somewhat - there were no passengers there it stopped after hitting a stationary car with track number 64.

As a result of the collision, Istvánné Czippoth (elsewhere Czipóth) driving the downhill train, Márta and the driver of the other vehicle, Péter Nok (according to other data, Nock) lost their lives, eight of the passengers were injured, three – according to other data, four – seriously, the others and easier. Their rescue was made very difficult by the inaccessibility of the accident site by road, on the one hand, and by the bad weather on the other hand - the intense snow that lasted all day, the temperature around minus 10 degrees and the wind causing serious snow blows in some places.

The subsequent investigations concluded that the primary braking system of track number 52 was equipped with unsuitable components, and the freezing also contributed to the fact that it was not possible to brake to a stop, however, it was said that the car's electric brake had become inoperable due to driving error. . However, after the accident, an official of the transport company, in a televised statement given to the reporter László Juszt, stated that "the two drivers did everything possible to prevent such an incident from occurring", referring to the possible causes - referring to the information received from the passengers.

A 2012 post on the public Facebook page of the Budapesti Fogaskerekű Vasút about the probable cause of the accident literally states: "At the Városkút stop [the driver of the train going down] could not stop, the air brake proved to be insufficient for some reason. In front of Erdei Iskola, he tried to stop his train, which was still moving at a low speed, with the "countermeasure" also used in tram driving, and that's when the trouble happened. The motor vehicle's drive system could not withstand the large counter-forces, its clutch practically exploded, and the connection between the electric motors operating as generators and the shaft of the driven handwheel was lost."

It took more than a week to remove the wreckage from the site and completely free the affected railway track section. Even after that, it was only possible to restore traffic in a reduced operation, with the four assemblies that remained intact (51-61, 54-67!, 55-65, 56-66). Learning from the tragedy, the braking system of the trains was partially transformed in the following period, and in 1991, a computer-controlled central dispatcher safety device was also installed on the line.

The trailer number 63 suffered the most damage, as the end of "A" was completely destroyed along with the driver's cab, and the end of "B" derailed, grinding the sleepers with its wheels up to Orgonás, and then stopped after hitting the 57 car left there. Due to its significant damage, it was planned to be scrapped for a long time, but later it was decided to repair it. It was restored at the BKV Fehér út railway vehicle repair facility, but the extent of its damage is indicated by the fact that it was put back into service only six years after the accident, in 1993.

After the accident, all the cars involved were restored, including the trailer with track number 64, shown in this 2019 photo, which is "immaculate" in all respects

Among the other affected cars, the motor car with track number 52 - the failure of which was the direct cause of the tragedy - was also repaired at the Fehér út site; It was put back into circulation in 1991. The rear car of the same assembly, trailer 62, survived the accident the smoothest of all the vehicles involved, so it was able to return to traffic within a few months. Motorcar No. 53 - which rolled to Városmajor - entered service in 1989, and trailer No. 64, which was damaged while stationary at Városmajor, was put into service in the summer of 1987. Relatively soon, in the spring of 1987, the motor car 57 also returned to traffic, in the few months that passed until it was restored, the motor car 54 traveled with the trailer 67.

Since many of the people living in the vicinity of the Fogaskerekű line knew the two deceased drivers personally, they also started a collection to help their families after the accident.

Notes

1. Emléknap. 2012. január 11.; hozzáférés: 2022. június 4. (Hungarian)

[[Category:1987 in rail transport]] [[Category:Rack railways]] [[Category:Railway accidents and incidents in Hungary]]