Background
Bad Lausick is a town of 8113 people (as of 2021) in eastern Germany, located in the federal state of Saxony 79km/49mi west of Dresden and 25.5km/16mi southeast of Leipzig (both measurements in linear distance). The town consists of several smaller settlements spread out over several square kilometers, including the formerly independent village of Lauterbach 3.6km/2.25mi linear distance to the north of Bad Lausick itself.
Bad Lausick’s different districts have several stations on the Leipzig-Geithain Railway, a mostly single-tracked non-electrified main line forming the northern section of the Leipzig-Chemnitz rail corridor. Opening in sections until reaching today’s route and expansion in 1913 the line saw an expansion to a large double-tracked section in the 1920s which was removed in the aftermath of WW2. Today only 900m/2950ft of double-tracked rail line remain. The line is mostly used for regional passenger services which can travel at up to 160kph/99mph on the fastest sections.
The vehicles involved in the accident
RE 3736 was a regional express passenger service from Chemnitz to Leipzig, provided on the day of the accident by a pair of DB (German national railway) series 612 “RegioSwinger” diesel multiple units led by DB 612 570. Introduced in 1998 the series 612 multiple units consist of two identical cars permanently coupled together, measuring 51.75m/170ft in length at a weight of 116 metric tons. They were developed specifically with express services on old, curvy routes in mind and feature a special suspension system which allows the body of the train along with the frame to lean into turns at up to 8° depending on input from sensors at the leading and trailing axle. This changes the forces inflicted on the train, track and passengers and allows a 30% faster operation compared to regular trains.
Each series 612 is powered by two Cummins inline-six diesel engines (one per car) producing 563kW/755hp each and can carry up to 146 passengers in a two-class configuration at speeds of up to 160kph/99mph.
Travelling northbound on S49/Bad Lausicker Straße was Mister Fiedler (at the time 64 years old) in a Ford Fiesta of unknown age. The Fiesta is a so-called “supermini”, a compact car that had reached its sixth generation by 2011. Despite having grown significantly over time even a sixth-generation Fiesta only measures 3.95m/13ft in length and 1.49m/4.8ft in height at a weight of 0.9 metric tons.
Lastly there was a Mercedes Sprinter delivery van following behind Mister Fiedler, similarly of undetermined year/specifications. Comparing current models at the time a second-generation Sprinter measures 5.24–7.34m/17.2–24 in length and at least 2.43m/ft in height at a weight of at least 1.5 metric tons empty.
The accident
On Tuesday the 20th of September 2011 RE 3763 is approaching Lauterbach from the south on it’s way to Leipzig, travelling at approximately 120kph/75mph. Some distance up the track Mister Fiedler has just pulled up to the level crossing on the edge of Lauterbach, stopping in front of the closing barriers. A few moments later the stationary Fiesta he’s sitting in gets rear-ended by a Mercedes Sprinter and forced forwards, through the barriers onto the train tracks. The crash leaves Mister Fiedler dazed, unable to grasp the situation he’s now in. Witnesses on the other side of the crossing run onto the tracks and pull Mister Fiedler from the car, getting him out of the crossing seconds before the small car is struck by the incoming RE at 115kph/71mph. The car is ripped apart on impact, pieces of it get lodged under the leading wheels of the train and derail it. The leading train car heads off the track into a field, digging in and falling over before coming to a stop almost facing the opposite way. The second and third car detach and derail as well, but remain mostly aligned with the rail line while the fourth car is the only one to remain on the tracks. Mister Fiedler and his rescuers are unharmed, as is the driver of the van that rammed him, but aboard the train 22 people are injured, six of which severely.
Aftermath
The railway-side of the accident’s investigation is fairly straightforward, and it’s soon confirmed that there was literally nothing wrong with the train, signaling system, level crossing, or the behavior of the train driver. The car got bumped into the path of the train by the van behind it so shortly before the train reached the crossing that nothing short of a random, independent derailment would have kept the train from hitting the car. It’s unknown if the driver triggered an emergency stop in the few seconds he had to react, but then again it’s not like it would have made a difference since the distance was too short for any noteworthy deceleration. What followed were two regular occurrences of level crossing collisions. Firstly, the train always “wins”. Modern trains have crumple zones, but they’re not designed for mutual protection when hitting a car, they’re designed for protection when hitting another train or more solid obstacles of at least that size.
Secondly, there was the discussion about what could have avoided the collision. The level crossing was equipped with all available modern safety-measures, containing lights, audio warnings, signage and automatically lowering barriers. There wasn’t much to improve, really, Mister Fiedler hadn’t “not seen” the crossing, he hadn’t accidentally or purposely ended up on the tracks (something commonly suspected after accidents at barrier-less crossings). If anything his misfortune proved that, if one finds themselves caught between lowering barriers, it is very easy to break through them with one’s car and get out of the way. The fault in this case wasn’t with the railway, or with Mister Fiedler. It was with the driver of the van that bumped Mister Fiedler’s car into the path of the train. Some local residents used the media-attention to the accident to ask why the level crossing isn’t being replaced with an underpass for the main road, pointing out that this was the third collision at the crossing that year.
As such the investigation’s report finishes after just 9 pages, about half of which being formal information about the investigation and the table of contents. At the end of the very brief report the investigation is officially left to the local public prosecutor, as, going forward, the accident is handled exclusively as a road-related legal matter and not of concern for the BEU (the agency investigating German rail accidents).
The train’s derailment was an unlucky coincidence, as debris from the car became jammed beneath the front of the train and/or its forward wheels, lifting the leading bogie out of the tracks for a brief moment, enough to bring the train out of alignment with the tracks which, at the site of the crossing, are curved. Injuries aboard the train were all from secondary impacts, meaning no one was directly hurt by the impact but by the motions of the train causing them to fall, in some cases hitting interior furnishings of the train car. None of the windows shattered in the accident and even the leading car, which fell over, stayed structurally intact throughout the accident.
A year after the accident the local public prosecutor’s office files charges against the 29 years old driver of the van, listing almost two dozen cases of negligently causing bodily harm as well as dangerous interference with both road and rail traffic. The defendant makes a full confession, admitting that he hadn’t paid sufficient attention and thus braked too late, failing to stop behind the small car Mister Fiedler was in. In November 2012 the courts sentence the driver to a fine of 2250€ in 15 individual payments. It’s unknown if he faced further consequences for his actions. The material damage is listed at 4.5 Million Euros, it ends up being paid by the involved insurances.
The leading series 612 from the train doesn’t survive the events, it’s removed from fleet lists and finally scrapped in Summer 2012. The rear pair gets repaired and briefly returns to service before being stored for 2 years and finally being reactivated in January 2017. It appears to be still in service as of Fall 2022, carrying a distinct white-yellow livery advertising the federal state of Baden-Württemberg.
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