Lagerlunda rail accident
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circa 01:11
| Lagerlunda rail accident | |
|---|---|
 The accident site, a few days after the crash. | |
 | |
| Details | |
| Date | November 15, 1875 circa 01:11 |
| Location | Kapellån, between Malmslätt and Bankeberg |
| Coordinates | 58°24′07″N 15°28′59″E / 58.402°N 15.483°E |
| Country | Sweden |
| Line | Eastern Main Line |
| Incident type | Head-on collision |
| Statistics | |
| Trains | 2 |
| Deaths | 9 |
| Injured | 3 |
The Lagerlunda rail accident occurred in the early hours of 15 November 1875 about 8 km (5.0 mi) west of Linköping in Östergötland, Sweden. Unclear signalling between a station master and a steam engine driver led to a train leaving the station although another train was approaching on the single line track. Nine people were killed in the head-on collision shortly after. The station master was sentenced to 6 months of prison.
A contemporary investigation by Swedish ophthalmologist Frithiof Holmgren suggested that color blindness on the part of the driver could have contributed to the accident, which prompted the introduction of mandatory color-vision screening of railroad personnel. However, more recent analyses dispute color blindness as the main cause of the accident.[1][2]
