ICE 1 significant event Eschede derailment
Accidents
Eschede
On 3 June 1998 ICE 1 set 151 derailed on the Hanover–Hamburg railway at Eschede, approximately 60 km (37 mi) north of Hanover. The train was on its way from Munich to Hamburg as ICE 884 "Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen", when the wheel of a first class car broke, and changed the setting of a railroad switch. Subsequently, the following cars derailed and crashed into the pillars of a bridge the train was just passing under, causing it to collapse on top of the train.
101 people were killed and 88 were seriously injured. It remains the worst rail disaster in the history of the Federal Republic of Germany and the worst high speed rail disaster worldwide.Set 151 was almost completely destroyed; only the almost undamaged power car 410 051 as well as a few other intermediate cars have been reused in other sets. The trailing power car was used for the reconstruction of power car 401 573.