As a result of the mistake, both trains, which were travelling at approximately 60mph, ploughed into each other head-on.
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The head-on train collision on a single-rail track near the town of Bad Aibling in Bavaria killed 11 people and injured 80 on February 9.
“There is no evidence of technical problems…our investigation shows that this was human error with catastrophic consequences”, he added.
Chief prosecutor Wolfgang Giese did not identify the dispatcher but said that his office has opened a criminal investigation against the 39-year-old worker.
He told a news conference on Tuesday that “had he (the dispatcher) behaved according to the rules the trains would not have collided”.
One of the trains had “drilled” into the other, he said, leaving a carriage “totally dismantled”.
“If he had complied with the rules… there would have been no collision”, said Giese.
Unconfirmed media reports suggest that the controller mistakenly allowed both of the trains onto the track at the same time and tried without success to alert the drivers once he had realized his mistake.
Fellow prosecutor Juergen Branz added: “What we have at the moment is a awful error in this particular situation”.
“We cannot imagine that such an accident can happen here”, he said.
Police spokesman Stefan Sonntag said two regional trains crashed head-on on the single track between Rosenheim and Holzkirchen shortly before 7am last Tuesday.
If the driver does not respond by pressing a button, the train will brake automatically.
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Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann has said at least one of the trains was not running to schedule. Authorities said it took about three hours to remove the victims.
