After the train chaos at Munich Central Station yesterday, Thursday, train traffic is now running according to schedule again, according to Deutsche Bahn. Due to damage to the overhead line in Munich-Laim, rail traffic was almost at a standstill for hours. The result: thousands of stranded travelers and desperate commuters. Regional and long-distance transport as well as the S-Bahn main line in Munich were affected.
Federal Police: Excavator was the cause
The federal police are now investigating a 25-year-old excavator driver. The accusation is of dangerous interference with rail traffic, as the authority reports. Initial investigations by the federal police confirmed the excavator as the cause of the standstill. The construction equipment was used during construction work in the underground construction site for the second trunk line, it continues.
However, the investigators are currently assuming negligence, said Wolfgang Hauner, press spokesman for the Munich Federal Police, when asked by the BR. There is so far no evidence that the excavator driver intentionally damaged the transverse structure of the overhead lines. The next steps are an interrogation of the excavator driver, provided he agrees, and a technical inspection of the device. Maybe more could be said next Monday, said the spokesman.
Overhead line fell on S-Bahn with around 350 people
Specifically, the 25-year-old dug up gravel in the immediate vicinity of platform 2 of the Laim S-Bahn stop. The excavator’s boom arm came into contact with the overhead power line and tore it off at around 11:05 a.m., according to the federal police. As a result, the entire overhead line system was damaged. According to information, the line fell on an S-Bahn occupied by around 350 people and the train was evacuated. Nobody got hurt.
Train: Repair was complex
The damage was ultimately repaired more quickly than initially expected: a spokeswoman for the railway told BR that the repairs to the overhead line were completed in the early evening hours on Thursday. The tracks were then gradually reopened.
At the beginning of the disruption, the railway feared that around a kilometer of contact wire would have to be replaced. Even if this was not the case, the work on the overhead line was said to have been very complex, according to the railway. Up to 50 employees from the DB technical team and the construction company of the second S-Bahn main line tried to repair the damage as quickly as possible with three special vehicles. First, the entire overhead line had to be separated from the residual electricity. Previously, the trains that were still on the move were diverted to other stations. Particularly tricky: An S-Bahn on which the overhead line fell in Laim had to be evacuated with around 350 passengers.
Bahn apologizes, Foreign Minister is also affected
Train traffic started again in the evening, and on Friday morning most of Munich’s S-Bahn trains ran again without any major problems. However, continuous ten-minute intervals were not possible on several lines during peak hours. The railway apologized “expressly for the inconvenience”.
Because of the chaotic conditions at the main train station, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock also had to change her travel plans. The Green politician had actually wanted to take the train back to Berlin on Thursday after visiting the IAA in Munich, having previously traveled to the trade fair by train and subway. The Foreign Office said that Baerbock ultimately had to drive to Berlin by car instead. The reason for this was “important appointments on the same evening”.
With information from dpa