Otłoczyn railway accident
Encyclopedia
The Otłoczyn railway accident was a train wreck
which occurred on August 19, 1980, near the village of Otłoczyn (Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship
, northern Poland
). At 4:30 a.m., a freight train collided with a passenger train which ran from Torun Main Station to Łódź Kaliska
. As a result, 65 people were killed, and 64 injured, out of which an additional two later died (bringing the total number of dead to 67). It was the biggest railway accident in the post-World War II
history of Poland
.
was told to drive freight train number 11599 from the station of Otloczyn to nearby Wrocki
. Roschek, who was later found guilty of the crash, had been working for 25 hours, which was against rail regulations. According to the management of the Torun Main station, the engineer probably lied about it, stating that he had worked for not more than 8 hours, in order to get extra paid time.
During the night of August 18–19, Roschek, together with another engineer, Andrzej Bogusz, arrived at the Otloczyn station, driving engine number ST-44-607, which belonged to the Chojnice depot. At around 2 a.m., the engine was connected to a few empty coal freight cars
. The train then waited for two hours on a side track in the pine forest between Torun and Wloclawek
before departing. Roschek's train was not included in any schedule. Like other trains of this kind, it was supposed to wait for the signal to go, which was only given when the track was clear.
resort of Kolobrzeg
. The Kolobrzeg train had two cars full of children, going back from summer vacation. These cars were connected to the train to Lodz Kaliska as the last ones. The 5130 left Torun Main at 4:19 a.m., almost one hour behind schedule. It quickly gained speed, reaching 88 kilometers per hour.
did not permit the departure, the freight train driven by Roschek left Otloczyn at approximately 4:20, heading towards Torun. Later investigation did not explain why the engineer decided to proceed without permission to do so. Roschek’s train was on the wrong track, the same track on which the passenger train to Lodz Kaliska was speeding. It has been established that at Torun rail center, nobody was expecting the 11599 to be moving. During the following minutes, rail service personnel at both Otłoczyn and Brzoza Torunska found out about the freight train going wrong way, but it was already too late. Both trains were pulled by Diesel engines
, neither of which was equipped with radiotelephone
s.
The engineers of both trains noticed each other at Brzoza Torunska. Morning fog limited visibility, and the trains were some 150 meters from each other when they became visible. Roschek probably reacted first, engaging his brakes. He must have realized then that he was on the wrong track, but did not try to escape by jumping out. His body was later found in the engine. Przyjemski engaged his train's brakes a few seconds later, and immediately tried to escape the locomotive cab. The trains crashed into each other when he was in a narrow corridor in the rear of the engine; this probably saved his life. Later on, the investigators thoroughly recreated the accident, stating that it would have been impossible to stop the trains before the crash. The engines collided at 4:30 a.m. The freight train was traveling at 33 km/h, the passenger train 85 km/h.
"The hollow, in which trains crashed, looks like a nightmare. Dead bodies are everywhere - on roofs of engines and cars, on the sand. Everywhere I hear calls for help, crying and weeping. There are doctors, paramedics, rail workers, police and soldiers. The area is covered by oil slick of spilled petrol. Smallest spark can ignite an explosion, which will deepen the tragedy. Under the circumstances, only bare hands and basic tools are used. The wounded are stretchered away along a path to ambulances, parked along nearby road. The passenger train had seven cars, one of which had been completely smashed. Before 8 a.m., there is a pile of bodies by the forest. Soldiers and police keep on bringing more bodies, some of them are so mutilated that even the toughest of men cannot stand the sight. They vomit, trying not to look."
and the Polish government opened special commissions. The investigation was initially concentrated on trying the so-called third factor of the tragedy. Apparently, some believed that it was caused by an unknown person, who terrorized crew of the freight train, and before the crash, jumped out into the forest. However, no evidence was found to prove this hypothesis right. Among officials present at the scene, was Edward Gierek
, who was flown by a helicopter.
Since August 1980 was a very hectic time in Poland (see: History of Solidarity
), wild rumors were rife in the area. People gossiped that the cargo train carried tanks, which were going to be used against workers of the Gdansk Shipyard
. Another rumor had it that activists of the fledgling Solidarity movement from Torun were in the train, on their way to a meeting in Lodz
.
The investigation was closed extremely quickly - on October 20, 1980. It was established that all rail workers who took part in the accident were sober and had not taken any drugs. Rail equipment along the track was working properly. Prosecutor Wieslaw Merkel of the Torun’s office stated that Mieczyslaw Roschek was guilty, but since the driver died, further investigation was unnecessary. The last person saved from the wreckage was engineer Gerard Przyjemski, who had hidden himself in the rear of his engine, and who still lives in Torun. Initially, firemen did not even want to search the inside of the almost completely destroyed engine. It was by accident that one policeman heard his cries for help.
A year after the accident, in late fall of 1981, journalist Zbigniew Juchniewicz wrote a book Train number 5130, which described the accident. The initial print run was 100,000 copies, but almost all were confiscated by Communist censorship. Writing about such tragedies was not appreciated by the government
Train wreck
A train wreck or train crash is a type of disaster involving one or more trains. Train wrecks often occur as a result of miscommunication, as when a moving train meets another train on the same track; or an accident, such as when a train wheel jumps off a track in a derailment; or when a boiler...
which occurred on August 19, 1980, near the village of Otłoczyn (Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship
Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship
-Transportation:Transportation infrastructure is of critical importance to the voivodeship's economy. Kuyavia-Pomerania is a major node point in the Polish transportation system. Railway lines from the South and East pass through Bydgoszcz in order to reach the major ports on the Baltic Sea...
, northern Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
). At 4:30 a.m., a freight train collided with a passenger train which ran from Torun Main Station to Łódź Kaliska
Łódź Kaliska railway station
Łódź Kaliska is a main railway station of the central Polish city of Łódź. It is located west of the center of the city, in the district of Polesie, and it consists of six platforms. First complex of the station, designed by Polish architect Czesław Domaniewski, was built in 1902 in Secession style...
. As a result, 65 people were killed, and 64 injured, out of which an additional two later died (bringing the total number of dead to 67). It was the biggest railway accident in the post-World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
history of Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
.
The freight train
In the early morning of August 19, 1980, 43-year-old train engineer Mieczyslaw Roschek from ChojniceChojnice
Chojnice is a town in northern Poland with 39 670 inhabitants , near famous Tuchola Forest, Lake Charzykowskie and many other water reservoirs. It is the capital of the Chojnice County....
was told to drive freight train number 11599 from the station of Otloczyn to nearby Wrocki
Wrocki
Wrocki is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Golub-Dobrzyń, within Golub-Dobrzyń County, Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship, in north-central Poland. It lies north-east of Golub-Dobrzyń and north-east of Toruń.-References:...
. Roschek, who was later found guilty of the crash, had been working for 25 hours, which was against rail regulations. According to the management of the Torun Main station, the engineer probably lied about it, stating that he had worked for not more than 8 hours, in order to get extra paid time.
During the night of August 18–19, Roschek, together with another engineer, Andrzej Bogusz, arrived at the Otloczyn station, driving engine number ST-44-607, which belonged to the Chojnice depot. At around 2 a.m., the engine was connected to a few empty coal freight cars
Goods wagon
Goods wagons are railway wagons that are used for the transportation of goods .- Development :At the beginning of the railway era, the vast majority of goods wagons were four-wheeled vehicles of simple construction. These were almost exclusively small covered wagons, open wagons with side-boards,...
. The train then waited for two hours on a side track in the pine forest between Torun and Wloclawek
Wloclawek
Włocławek is a town in northern Poland on the Vistula and Zgłowiączka rivers, with a population of 117,785 . It is situated in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship and until 1999 was the capital of Włocławek Voivodeship.-History:...
before departing. Roschek's train was not included in any schedule. Like other trains of this kind, it was supposed to wait for the signal to go, which was only given when the track was clear.
The passenger train
On the same night, a local train number 5130 from Torun Main Station to Lodz Kaliska, was scheduled to leave at 3:37 a.m. Driven by engineer Gerard Przyjemski, it consisted of engine SP45-160 and five passenger cars, and it departed several minutes late, waiting for a stopping train from the seasideBaltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
resort of Kolobrzeg
Kolobrzeg
Kołobrzeg is a city in Middle Pomerania in north-western Poland with some 50,000 inhabitants . Kołobrzeg is located on the Parsęta River on the south coast of the Baltic Sea...
. The Kolobrzeg train had two cars full of children, going back from summer vacation. These cars were connected to the train to Lodz Kaliska as the last ones. The 5130 left Torun Main at 4:19 a.m., almost one hour behind schedule. It quickly gained speed, reaching 88 kilometers per hour.
The accident
Even though the signalRailway semaphore signal
One of the earliest forms of fixed railway signal is the semaphore. These signals display their different indications to train drivers by changing the angle of inclination of a pivoted 'arm'. Semaphore signals were patented in the early 1840s by Joseph James Stevens, and soon became the most...
did not permit the departure, the freight train driven by Roschek left Otloczyn at approximately 4:20, heading towards Torun. Later investigation did not explain why the engineer decided to proceed without permission to do so. Roschek’s train was on the wrong track, the same track on which the passenger train to Lodz Kaliska was speeding. It has been established that at Torun rail center, nobody was expecting the 11599 to be moving. During the following minutes, rail service personnel at both Otłoczyn and Brzoza Torunska found out about the freight train going wrong way, but it was already too late. Both trains were pulled by Diesel engines
Diesel locomotive
A diesel locomotive is a type of railroad locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine, a reciprocating engine operating on the Diesel cycle as invented by Dr. Rudolf Diesel...
, neither of which was equipped with radiotelephone
Radiotelephone
A radiotelephone is a communications system for transmission of speech over radio. Radiotelephone systems are not necessarily interconnected with the public "land line" telephone network. "Radiotelephone" is often used to describe the usage of radio spectrum where it is important to distinguish the...
s.
The engineers of both trains noticed each other at Brzoza Torunska. Morning fog limited visibility, and the trains were some 150 meters from each other when they became visible. Roschek probably reacted first, engaging his brakes. He must have realized then that he was on the wrong track, but did not try to escape by jumping out. His body was later found in the engine. Przyjemski engaged his train's brakes a few seconds later, and immediately tried to escape the locomotive cab. The trains crashed into each other when he was in a narrow corridor in the rear of the engine; this probably saved his life. Later on, the investigators thoroughly recreated the accident, stating that it would have been impossible to stop the trains before the crash. The engines collided at 4:30 a.m. The freight train was traveling at 33 km/h, the passenger train 85 km/h.
The victims
Among the first journalists who appeared at the scene was Zbigniew Juchniewicz, from Torun's local daily Nowosci. He wrote:"The hollow, in which trains crashed, looks like a nightmare. Dead bodies are everywhere - on roofs of engines and cars, on the sand. Everywhere I hear calls for help, crying and weeping. There are doctors, paramedics, rail workers, police and soldiers. The area is covered by oil slick of spilled petrol. Smallest spark can ignite an explosion, which will deepen the tragedy. Under the circumstances, only bare hands and basic tools are used. The wounded are stretchered away along a path to ambulances, parked along nearby road. The passenger train had seven cars, one of which had been completely smashed. Before 8 a.m., there is a pile of bodies by the forest. Soldiers and police keep on bringing more bodies, some of them are so mutilated that even the toughest of men cannot stand the sight. They vomit, trying not to look."
List of victims
|
|
The investigation
Both Polish State RailwaysPolish State Railways
is the dominant railway operator in Poland.The company was founded when the former state-owned operator was divided into several units based on the requirements laid down by the European Union...
and the Polish government opened special commissions. The investigation was initially concentrated on trying the so-called third factor of the tragedy. Apparently, some believed that it was caused by an unknown person, who terrorized crew of the freight train, and before the crash, jumped out into the forest. However, no evidence was found to prove this hypothesis right. Among officials present at the scene, was Edward Gierek
Edward Gierek
Edward Gierek was a Polish communist politician.He was born in Porąbka, outside of Sosnowiec. He lost his father to a mining accident in a pit at the age of four. His mother married again and emigrated to northern France, where he was raised. He joined the French Communist Party in 1931 and was...
, who was flown by a helicopter.
Since August 1980 was a very hectic time in Poland (see: History of Solidarity
History of Solidarity
The history of Solidarity , a Polish non-governmental trade union, begins in August 1980, at the Lenin Shipyards at its founding by Lech Wałęsa and others. In the early 1980s, it became the first independent labor union in a Soviet-bloc country...
), wild rumors were rife in the area. People gossiped that the cargo train carried tanks, which were going to be used against workers of the Gdansk Shipyard
Gdansk Shipyard
Gdańsk Shipyard is a large Polish shipyard, located in the city of Gdańsk. The yard gained international fame when Solidarity was founded there in September 1980...
. Another rumor had it that activists of the fledgling Solidarity movement from Torun were in the train, on their way to a meeting in Lodz
Lódz
Łódź is the third-largest city in Poland. Located in the central part of the country, it had a population of 742,387 in December 2009. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is approximately south-west of Warsaw...
.
The investigation was closed extremely quickly - on October 20, 1980. It was established that all rail workers who took part in the accident were sober and had not taken any drugs. Rail equipment along the track was working properly. Prosecutor Wieslaw Merkel of the Torun’s office stated that Mieczyslaw Roschek was guilty, but since the driver died, further investigation was unnecessary. The last person saved from the wreckage was engineer Gerard Przyjemski, who had hidden himself in the rear of his engine, and who still lives in Torun. Initially, firemen did not even want to search the inside of the almost completely destroyed engine. It was by accident that one policeman heard his cries for help.
A year after the accident, in late fall of 1981, journalist Zbigniew Juchniewicz wrote a book Train number 5130, which described the accident. The initial print run was 100,000 copies, but almost all were confiscated by Communist censorship. Writing about such tragedies was not appreciated by the government
External links
- Photo gallery of the accident and current photos of the rail track at Otloczyn
- Computer animation of the Otloczyn accident
- A short film dedicated to the victims of the accident, with 1980 photographs
See also
- Classification of railway accidentsClassification of railway accidentsClassification of railway accidents, both in terms of cause and effect, is a valuable aid in studying rail accidents to help to prevent similar ones occurring in future...
- History of rail transport in PolandHistory of rail transport in PolandThe history of rail transport in Poland dates back to the first half of the 19th century when railways were built under Prussian, Russian, and Austrian rule. Of course, "divided Poland" in 19th century was the territory of the former Commonwealth of Poland and not that one of today's Republic of...
- Transportation in Poland
- List of Poland disasters by death toll