One killed and 25 injured in high-speed train grade crossing collision in Germany

[BlackDiamond]

Something you rarely hear about in Europe - a grade crossing collision between a truck and a high speed train.
Apparently this was an access road to a rail maintenance center and the truck was carrying rails.

One killed and 25 injured in high-speed train collision in Germany

 

[cirdan]

It wasn't actually on a high speed line, but on a conventional line.

The man who was killed was a passenger on the train, and a well known historian and professor at Hamburg University, as well as a renowned promoter of inter-religious dialog and cooperation. Thomas Großbölting was 55 years old.

 

[BlackDiamond]

It wasn't actually on a high speed line, but on a conventional line.

I guess the "high speed" refers to the train rather than the line, which appears to be one of the ICE trainsets.
AIUI in Germany no grade crossings are permitted on lines that run at or over 160 kph (~100 mph) which would include the high speed lines.

 

[cirdan]

I guess the "high speed" refers to the train rather than the line, which appears to be one of the ICE trainsets.
AIUI in Germany no grade crossings are permitted on lines that run at or over 160 kph (~100 mph) which would include the high speed lines.

I think there is an exception to the grade crossing rule for when it comes to access to internal maintenance centers, with their use being strictly reserved for specially trained staff. The assumption being that such employees display higher levels of safety awareness and take additional safety measures. The tragic thing about the present accident is that the truck was using precisely such an internal/private crossing. No doubt there will be a thorough investigation revealing what went wrong.

 

[Urban Sky]

Apparently this was an access road to a rail maintenance center and the truck was carrying rails.

Thanks, I hadn’t picked up on that yet! Speed limit was apparently 140 km/h, so less than the maximum permitted for level crossings. I assume that the horseshoe curve alignment of the access road will be highlighted as a contributing factor in the accident report:


Interestingly, there are very few locations in Germany’s long-distance where a full closure of a major long-distance spine (Hamburg-Bremen-Münster) would cause less disruption than between Harburg and Buchholz, thanks to the double-tracked (and of course electrified) freight connecting line via Maschen (Europe’s largest shunting yard, IIRC):

Note: the accident site is where the 2200 merges into the 1255/1280/1720, just southeast of Hamburg-Harburg (exactly where the “1” of the “1255” label is placed).