After the train accident in Garmisch-Partenkirchen with five dead, the railway wants to repair the route by autumn. There were no trains there all summer – and there were also disabilities elsewhere. The Bahn boss for Bavaria apologizes.
Munich (dpa / lby) – More than a quarter of a year after the train accident in Garmisch-Partenkirchen with five dead, trains are to roll on the route again in September. According to the current status, the trains could mostly run stably again at the start of the school year in Bavaria on September 13th on the main line from Munich via Garmisch-Partenkirchen to Mittenwald, Deutsche Bahn announced on Tuesday.
The railway wants to start the repair work shortly. Around the accident site, around 700 meters of rail and 500 sleepers have to be renewed. In addition, new overhead lines and masts are required.
The public prosecutor’s office in Munich II fully released the scene of the accident on Tuesday. The on-site investigations are initially completed, said the spokeswoman for the prosecution, Andrea Grape.
Most recently, slow-moving sections and route closures had obstructed traffic, among other things because of the inspection of concrete sleepers. “The quality of the Werdenfels network was recently unacceptable and in no way meets our own standards,” admitted DB Group representative in Bavaria, Klaus-Dieter Josel. “We apologize for this to the passengers, for whom we were unfortunately unable to offer a good ride in many cases.” The railway will therefore start an extensive investment program in addition to the necessary repair work.
Bavaria’s Transport Minister Christian Bernreiter (CSU) welcomed the announcements by the railways. “It is good news that there is now at least a perspective for the main route from Munich to Garmisch. The railways must now ensure that the offer is actually stable and reliable and provide sufficient capacity. But it is also clear that the Bahn urgently needs to fundamentally renovate the Werdenfels network as a whole.”
Investigations into the cause of the accident are still ongoing. However, experts suspect damage to the track body as at least one factor. The public prosecutor’s office in Munich II is continuing to investigate four railway employees on suspicion of negligent homicide.
As a consequence of the accident, Deutsche Bahn began testing around 200,000 concrete sleepers throughout the German route network in July. This special inspection, but also heat-related material damage that had to be repaired ad hoc, would have led to delays in rail traffic, the railway explained. Therefore, the rail replacement service will be maintained on several routes in the south. This affects the route Garmisch-Partenkirchen – Pfronten-Steinach, Murnau – Garmisch-Partenkirchen – Mittenwald, Murnau – Oberammergau and Seeshaupt – Kochel. The timetable concept will initially apply until mid-September.
After the train accident, there was criticism of the railway and the rail network from many quarters. Only last week, local politicians from the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen called the structural and technical condition of the Werdenfelsbahn “a catastrophe”. The rail replacement traffic at the accident site was chaotic and because of the many empty runs “an ecological madness”, wrote the mayor and district administrator Anton Speer (free voters) to the railway. The communication of the train is as good as non-existent – and a turnaround in traffic in the district is not achievable.
The regional train from Garmisch-Partenkirchen to Munich derailed on June 3rd. Four women and a 14-year-old from the region died. 16 people were seriously injured, about 50 slightly.
