The deaths of these people, unjustified and shrouded in mystery, were in some cases a strange twist of fate.
Jacek had been eagerly awaiting this day. On that very day, his 11th birthday, his father had promised him a special present: a ride in the locomotive of the Prague–Moscow train.
An ordinary day
The events that took place near Wrocław occurred on 9 July 1977. The Prague–Moscow train left Wrocław’s Main Railway Station just before 8 a.m. It was delayed, and at the last moment it was stopped again when a member of staff noticed the final passengers running onto platform 4. The train stopped, and the late passengers boarded the rear part of the train—that is, the Soviet carriages. The train could now continue its journey.
At that time, 11-year-old Jacek was sitting in the electric locomotive’s cab with the driver. His father had promised him an extraordinary journey on this extraordinary day—his 11th birthday. The boy was happy; he did not get to ride in a real locomotive every day. After all, not everyone has a train-driver father. Our little hero also began his journey from Wrocław Główny station.
The “free runner” on the tracks
The “friendship train” running between Prague and Moscow consisted of an EU07 electric locomotive (designated EU07–115), a WARS restaurant car and six carriages. The final carriages were Soviet. Many Russians and citizens of the USSR were travelling on the train.
At Długołęka, 15 km from Wrocław, the crew of an ST–43 diesel locomotive received an order from the traffic controller to move onto a siding to allow the express train to pass. The freight locomotive was operated by a two-person crew. The locomotive was what was known as a “free runner”, meaning it had no carriages. It was heading towards Psie Pole, and its destination station was Węgliniec, where the drivers were due to finish work that day.
After the controller at Długołęka issued the instruction, something strange and inexplicable happened. The “free” locomotive not only failed to leave the express train’s route, but also set off towards it on the same track. The controller was stunned. He could no longer stop the locomotive because it had passed the points. He called Psie Pole, asking the controller there to stop the speeding express. Unfortunately, the train was just passing the station. Along the “free runner’s” route, signals were still given with flags: stop! Attempts were also made to stop the ST–43 with a whistle.
Today, using a whistle or flag to give railway signals may seem primitive to us. Yet at the time, one of the basic tools that should have been available—a radio telephone—was missing. Such devices were not yet used in the late 1970s, leaving the Polish railway system in a technological Middle Ages. If radio telephones had been in common use, the tragedy could probably have been avoided. Both drivers would have stopped immediately.
The unfortunate incident ended with the speeding locomotive and the express meeting on a curve between Psie Pole and Długołęka. When the express driver saw the approaching locomotive, weighing 118 tonnes, he hugged his son tightly. He already knew what was going to happen. From the moment the drivers saw each other, barely six seconds passed. That was too little time for any reaction, especially with the trains travelling at high speed. The express was moving at 100 km/h. There was no chance of braking in time. The disaster was unavoidable.
The collision was so powerful that it flung the diesel locomotive onto a nearby meadow, 40 m from the tracks. The locomotive caught fire and burned down.
The electric locomotive was also crushed, along with the WARS car. Only the Soviet carriages remained in good condition, probably because they were at the rear of the train and their construction was sturdier and more massive than that of the Polish carriages.
Rescue operation
It is not difficult to imagine what the disaster site looked like. The electric locomotive of the Prague–Moscow express, travelling at 100 km/h, was crushed by the oncoming diesel locomotive. All that remained of it was a heap of scrap metal. The “free runner”, meanwhile, ended up far from the tracks, in a nearby meadow—and let us remember that it was a freight locomotive weighing 118 tonnes. The force that threw it there must have been immense.
After the collision, the runaway locomotive caught fire. Its driver and assistant were killed. In the other train, the driver and his son also died at the scene. They were found embracing one another, as if the father had wanted to protect his child.
Help reached the injured quickly. The traffic controllers knew that a disaster was imminent. A rescue train was quickly organised, and the emergency services and authorities were notified. The militia and the secret police arrived at the scene of the tragedy. Sabotage was suspected. After all, the Prague–Moscow express was the “friendship train”.
Plainclothes militia officers surrounded Długołęka station and the building where the station staff and traffic controller worked. They feared a lynching. Tensions were high, and at first the controller at Długołęka was blamed.
The strangest event, however, was that a Soviet military helicopter landed near the disaster site and probably took away an injured Soviet dignitary who had been travelling on that very train. It is a pity that not all injured passengers received such care, but only those of “higher, Soviet rank”.
Causes of the disaster
In the railway disaster near Wrocław, in the vicinity of Długołęka, at least 11 people certainly died, while the number of injured was falsified: officially, it was given as 15, but in reality it was 40.
The aftermath of the accident was cleared away quite quickly. The communist authorities feared unnecessary publicity, since the matter concerned, to some extent, a Soviet train.
After a detailed investigation, the Wrocław provincial prosecutor’s office discontinued the proceedings in December of the same year.
Was the investigation conducted properly? We do not know. We may, however, assume that it probably was. All PKP employees who could contribute anything to the case were questioned. The principal witnesses—the drivers of the train and the locomotive—had died, so they could explain nothing or dispel certain doubts. These concerned the behaviour of the diesel locomotive, which literally ran away and entered the wrong track.
The prosecutor’s office dismissed the theory of an attack. However, the focus was placed on the behaviour of the “free runner’s” driver. Why had he remained on that track without authorisation and set off against the direction of travel?
One theory points to the freight locomotive driver’s routine. Perhaps he thought he could reach the next station, Psie Pole, and the next set of points in time, then wait there until the express had passed.
Perhaps he had not fully understood the controller’s order—the two railwaymen had just finished a night shift and still had to reach their destination station, Węgliniec.
The cause was evidently an error in railway practice by the “free runner’s” crew, but what guided them, and why did they leave the station and fail to respond to the signals, even though they could be heard? Drivers passing near the tracks heard the whistle used to stop the locomotive. Why, then, did the driver and his assistant not hear it?
The truth will remain forever among the heaps of iron and human suffering.
The worst thing, however, is that no conclusions were drawn from the event for the future. Radio telephones continued to lie unused in railway warehouses instead of serving to improve safety.
Paweł Skiersinis
The author is a blogger and history enthusiast, particularly interested in the history of Lower Silesia and Poland. Why Lower Silesia? As he himself says: “Why not? The most interesting history is the history around us, concerning us and our ancestors.”
He adds: “I try to present history from a different perspective, in an engaging way, not in the typical textbook style, full of dry dates and facts. My articles concern facts that we will not find in textbooks and well-known publications. The history of Lower Silesia is undoubtedly fascinating and compelling, so it is worth devoting at least a brief moment to it from time to time.”