On 27 June 1977, a head-on collision occurred between two trains Booßen railway station[clarification needed] in Lebus, in then East Germany.

The switchman had a key device at his disposal to assist him in this task, which enabled him to check the correct switch position, but did not offer any active security.

The holiday express train D 1918 was travelling northbound from Zittau via Cottbus and Frankfurt (Oder) to Stralsund on the Baltic coast.

The locomotives were the star of the DR's high-class express trains at the time, and ran up mileages as high as 22000km/13670mi per month, reaching speeds of up to 140kph/87mph.

This was locomotive driver Goletzke's sixth independent trip on this section, the fourth for stoker Mickelun, and it was a night journey.

Pulled by the diesel locomotive 132 200, it carried different kinds of solid cargo including large amounts of paper in the two forward cars.

The series 132 (later renumbered 232 after integration into the DB), nicknamed "Ludmilla", it weighed in at 124 metric tons at 20.8m/68ft long and could reach up to 120 kilometres per hour (75 mph).

Parked at Booßen station was DG 61180,[citation needed] a set of freight cars that had been stored on Track 2 as its nearby destination was at capacity.

It is uncertain to what extent he registered the locomotive train passing his signalman's house; in any case, he seems to have fallen asleep at his post.

It is unclear what actions, if any, Goletzke and Mickelun took, as they were killed in the crash, as was Werner Grund's engineer, who died in the driver's cab as it was crushed.

[2] Burkhard Hübscher, a local resident of Lebus (and whose house overlooked the crash), later recalled in an interview the shock at the complete destruction of both train engines and offered what help he could.

An investigation by East German railway authorities attributed the accident primarily to a routing error made by a signalman.

Contributing factors included limited visibility and the absence of automated fail-safes that could have prevented the manual routing error.

[citation needed] The collision caused significant structural damage to the passenger carriages at the front of the train, complicating the subsequent rescue operations.

Following the investigation, East German rail authorities implemented multiple reforms, including installing automated signal controls in certain areas and enforcing additional safety checks under low-visibility conditions.

[9] The Lebus collision remains a notable event in the history of East German railway safety, influencing the adoption of stricter signal management practices.