S-Bahn-Unfall am Berliner Tor - Hamburg, Germany
N 53° 33.134 E 010° 01.672
32U E 568096 N 5934196
Berliner Tor - Schauplatz des schwersten Unfalls mit einem Schienenfahrzeug im Raum Hamburg am 5. Oktober 1961.
Waymark Code: WM11FEY
Location: Hamburg, Germany
Date Posted: 10/14/2019
Views: 17
The S-Bahn accident at the Berliner Tor is the most serious accident with a rail vehicle in the Hamburg area. The accident occurred on 5 October 1961 at 22:38 near the S-Bahn station Berliner Tor.
In the accident, a suburban train on its way to Bergedorf collided with a construction train loaded with T-beams. The accident occurred between the S-Bahn stations Rothenburgsort and Berliner Tor. The dispatcher had inadvertently allowed an S-Bahn of the ET 170 series to enter a section of track that was still occupied by a construction train. He had forgotten the construction train; the electrical line protection was switched off due to the shunting work of the construction train.
The S-Bahn train hit the construction train at a speed of about 60 km/h. The train had been switched off because of the shunting work of the construction train. The dimensions of the loaded double T-beams fitted almost exactly into the cabin of the S-Bahn and pressed the S-Bahn together like a stamp in a piston. In the accident, 28 people were killed in the S-Bahn and 55 passengers injured. The locomotive driver of the construction train was able to jump off shortly before the collision; the locomotive driver of the S-Bahn was killed.
Source: Wikipedia (translated)
On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of this disaster, a 3-minute video was broadcast on regional television: (
visit link)