Will that calm frustrated passengers and outraged mayors? Two days before a crisis meeting about the dilapidated route network in Werdenfelser Land, Deutsche Bahn announced that regional trains would run again on the routes that were closed there from mid-September. On the main line from Munich via Murnau to Garmisch-Partenkirchen and Mittenwald – the train service currently ends in Murnau – the train should be running continuously again at the beginning of the new school year on September 13th.
But even this message comes with a caveat: According to the current status, the trains could “for the most part be stable again” on this main line. The state-owned company Deutsche Bahn (DB) does not explain what the words “mostly” and “stable” mean. What remains are the secondary lines from Tutzing to Kochel and from Murnau to Oberammergau, which are also currently closed. Here the DB writes that the current replacement bus service applies “initially until mid-September”.
What that means is unclear. The current notification does not indicate whether the railways want to put these two side lines back into operation as quickly as possible. Or whether the upcoming renovation will take longer. DB plans to start repairs on the main route to Garmisch-Partenkirchen shortly. This is possible after the authorities have now released the scene of the accident, where a regional train with double-decker carriages derailed in Burgrain at the beginning of June. Five passengers died at the time and many were injured.
Damaged concrete sleepers could have led to the accident. The railways then carried out a “nationwide special inspection of concrete sleepers”, which resulted in so-called speed restrictions and route closures. Such slow-moving sections, on which only 20 kilometers per hour are permitted in some cases, are intended to prevent derailments. In addition, according to the DB, there was “heat-related material damage to the rails that had to be repaired ad hoc”.
Serious allegations from local politicians
After violent protests from Garmisch-Partenkirchen’s District Administrator Anton Speer and numerous mayors from Werdenfelser Land, DB has agreed to a crisis meeting this Thursday. At the meeting, “we are now also expecting statements” about how the Werdenfels network will continue, says Christian Scheuerer (CSU) from Ohlstadt near Murnau, spokesman for the 22 mayors in the Garmisch-Partenkirchen district. Little has been learned so far. There are notices at train stations about replacement buses. “But that doesn’t really do anything.”
Two trains of the Werdenfelsbahn are coupled together at Tutzing station. If you want to go further south, you currently have to switch to rail replacement services.
(Photo: Alessandra Schellnegger)
Scheuerer complains that the notices are difficult to find, some are outdated, inaccurate and unreliable. In Murnau you really have to look for information on how to get to Oberammergau. The fact that holiday guests and others cannot travel by train is a “huge problem”. Parents have already contacted him and other local leaders with the idea of sending their children to schools in other places that are easier to reach instead of in Garmisch-Partenkirchen for the coming school year. In general, the replacement buses “rarely worked on time,” complains Scheuerer.
The CEO of Deutsche Bahn, Richard Lutz, had promised a “general renovation” in the Werdenfelser Land two weeks ago at a crisis summit in Munich for the local S-Bahn. However, Lutz did not provide details about the period, scope and costs. The state-owned company only announced that it would develop a concept for “renewal measures”. “We will inform you about the details in a timely manner. Until then, we ask for your patience.”
100 million for maintenance
Florian Streibl, on the other hand, member of the state parliament for the Free Voters from Oberammergau, wants to have learned more from Bavaria’s Minister of Transport Christian Bernreiter (CSU). According to this, Bahn boss Lutz has pledged 80 to 100 million euros for maintenance and modernization measures in the Werdenfels network and on the Oberlandbahn. The Oberlandbahn runs from Munich via Holzkirchen to Bayrischzell, Tegernsee and Lenggries. There are problems there too.
The mayors of Werdenfelser Land let off a lot of steam in a letter to Deutsche Bahn a week ago. “The structural and technical condition of the Werdenfelsbahn – a disaster!” The replacement service: “Chaotic and ecological madness due to the many useless empty trips made by many taxis and buses!” And information is “almost non-existent”. The railways should do everything “immediately” so that the trains can run again soon. Especially with a view to the new school year, which begins in mid-September.
Norbert Moy from the Pro Bahn passenger association complains about a “huge imbalance in investments between rail and road”. This also goes in the direction of the CSU, which has provided the federal transport ministers in succession over the past ten years. A month ago, in a letter to the current Federal Minister of Transport, Volker Wissing, Moy called for a state aid fund for the Werdenfels network from the FDP. The money is there, all expansion measures on federal highway 2 must be stopped immediately.
Recently there was even a demonstration for a better railway; with 200 people in Weilheim. Pro-Bahn activist Moy demanded 170 million euros there for the Werdenfels network alone. The railway should not only be renovated, but also modernized. For its part, Deutsche Bahn has now announced “an extensive investment program in addition to the necessary repair work”. This will be presented shortly.