The two trains were traveling on a single track in Bavaria, each going around a bend at about 62 mph so they were not visible to the engineers. The trains were equipped with automatic braking systems reported to have been deactivated.
"Media reports said human error was to blame for the high-speed crash near the southern spa town of Bad Aibling, where one of the trains sliced into the other, ripping a hole in its side," writes Ralf Isermann for Agence France‑Presse (AFP). They crashed at 7 am on Feb. 9.
One media source "said a signalling station worker had manually disactivated [sic] the automatic signalling system to let the first train -- which was running late -- go past." Another source "said manually disabling the signalling would have disactivated the automatic braking systems."
After German rail was liberalised at the end of the 1990s, BOB became one of the train operators competing with state-run Deutsche Bahn.
Although it has lost its monopoly operating status, Deutsche Bahn still owns the rail network.
More will be known about the cause, whether human error or a technical malfunction is to blame, after the trains' black boxes have been analyzed. Two of the three have been recovered. Both engineers and two conductors were among the fatalities.
Police chief for the Upper Bavaria region, Robert Kopp, said the trains were carrying about 150 passengers, fewer than on a regular work day as many people were off for the region's winter holidays.
The crash "rais(es) new questions about the safety and reliability of a rail network in Europe that has been the envy of much of the world," writes Melissa Eddy for The New York Times. But "crashes across Europe in recent years have highlighted weaknesses in the rail network."
Many countries in the region have abandoned government-run monopolies in favor of privately-run rail systems, even as the European Union is spending billions of euros to modernize rail networks.
The result is an increasingly precarious system, with a patchwork of old and new technologies in use at the same time, and with drivers, who are often alone in cars, shouldering more responsibility for safety.
In Germany, the most serious accident since unification was in 1998, when 101 people died in the northern town of Eschede after a high-speed train derailed, crashing into a bridge. Fatal crashes since then have been rare and on a much smaller scale.
"The accident is believed to be Germany's first fatal train crash since April 2012, when three people were killed and 13 injured in a collision between two regional trains in the western city of Offenbach," writes AFP's Ralf.
In the United States, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is still investigating the cause of the May 10, 2015 Amtrak Northeast Regional train derailment in Philadelphia that killed eight passengers.
FULL STORY: Ten dead as commuter trains collide in Germany

Planetizen’s Top Planning Books of 2023
The world is changing, and planning with it.

Chicago Red Line Extension Could Transform the South Side
The city’s transit agency is undertaking its biggest expansion ever to finally bring rail to the South Side.

How Paris, Texas Became a ‘Unicorn’ for Rural Transit
A robust coalition of advocates in the town of 25,000 brought together the funding and resources to launch a popular bus service that some residents see as a mobility lifeline—and a social club.

Baltimore Considers Public Restroom Project
The city is starting to develop a plan for adding more public restrooms downtown, where available bathrooms are scarce and historic buildings are being damaged by public urination.

Will New York’s Strict Short-Term Rental Rules Work?
Some owners are reluctant to put short-term rental units back on the long-term rental market, but the number of permitted units has dropped dramatically.

Seattle’s Bike Infrastructure Hamstrings Growth
Design standards that call for minimal road space allocated to bikes are limiting the growth of cycling in the city.
City of Kissimmee - Development Services
City of Kissimmee - Development Services
Alamo Area Metropolitan Planning Organization
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
Park City Municipal Corporation
National Capital Planning Commission
City of Santa Fe, New Mexico
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.