The Wheel That Never Came Back

At the end of 1991 the board of the Deutsche Bundesbahn decided to test rubber-sprung wheels under seven dining cars of the ICE high-speed train. Passengers had complained about rattling dishes and wandernde Gläser, wandering glasses. In October 1992 the board was asked to introduce the new wheels across the whole ICE fleet. On 3 June 1998, near Eschede on the line from Hanover to Hamburg, the tire of one of these wheels broke at about 200 kilometers per hour. Metal fatigue set off a chain of events, and 101 people died. Three days later the railway took all ICE 1 trains out of service and ran them again only after ultrasound checks of every wheel. The Federal Railway Authority ordered all of about 2,880 rubber-sprung wheel sets replaced. Two railway officials and an engineer of the tire manufacturer were charged with not testing the wheels enough. German Wikipedia notes that Deutsche Bahn has not reintroduced the rubber-sprung wheels, trotz ihrer technischen Vorteile, despite their technical advantages.

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