Traffic
Excavator damages overhead lines – railway chaos in Munich
Workers repair a torn overhead line in Munich. photo
© Lennart Preiss/dpa
An excavator damages an overhead line, and as a result the railway in Munich no longer works: neither long-distance nor regional traffic can reach the main station. Numerous passengers become stranded.
Stopped trains, stranded travelers and desperate commuters: one damaged during construction work in Munich Overhead lines severely affected Deutsche Bahn’s long-distance and local traffic on Thursday.
Deutsche Bahn announced in the evening that the restrictions would last into the night. However, several of the affected tracks have been reopened so that operations to and from Landshut, Ingolstadt and Buchloe as well as to and from Munich Central Station can gradually resume in the coming hours, it was said at around 8:35 p.m. Trains from Werdenfels turn around in Starnberg until the end of operations.
According to initial findings, an excavator during construction work on the second S-Bahn trunk line in the Munich-Laim area had damaged a complete transverse structure that spans the overhead lines across all tracks on the line. As a result, the important route between the main station and Munich-Pasing was closed. Long-distance and regional traffic as well as traffic on the S-Bahn main line in the state capital was completely stopped, with a few exceptions. The Munich main station could not be reached.
train cancellations and delays
“The DB expressly apologizes for the inconvenience caused to its passengers,” said Deutsche Bahn (DB). The breakdown during the construction work resulted in numerous train cancellations and delays, and other trains ended early or departed from other stations. As a result, many long-distance travelers were unable to start their journey in Munich or reach their destination.
Local transport throughout the region was also severely affected, as regional trains and the S-Bahn network were affected by failures and different routes. An exception were the BRB diesel trains to the Bavarian Oberland, which ran normally according to the electronic timetable. The S7, which only joins the main route after Laim – the central route of all S-Bahn lines through Munich city center – soon continued.
In the main station, trains stood still for an indefinite period on almost all tracks. Passengers crowded into the station hall. Within a very short time, a long queue formed in front of the travel center, and railway employees were surrounded by crowds of people. Those who could, tried to reach their destination by other means of transport. There was a huge rush at the tram stops around the main train station, and there were arguments between those waiting over free taxis.
“The train connection has been lifted”
After all, all passengers who had to postpone their planned trip due to damage to the overhead line can use their ticket at a later date. “The train connection has been lifted,” the railway informed. The ticket is also valid with a changed route until the journey to the destination. Seat reservations could be canceled free of charge.
Hours after the incident, the railway also managed to ensure that at least the ICE trains Hamburg-Berlin-Nuremberg-Munich and Hamburg-Dortmund-Frankfurt-Stuttgart-Munich were able to run to Munich every two hours again. This meant that the state capital was reconnected to the long-distance transport network at least once an hour.