According to a newspaper report, Deutsche Bahn was planning timely renovation work on the section of track near Garmisch-Partenkirchen on which there was a train accident on Friday that killed five people. For June 25th, a good three weeks after the accident, a “correction of the track position” between Oberau and Farchant was planned, reported the “Welt”, citing a list from DB Netz AG with upcoming construction work.
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The company responsible for the railway infrastructure also wanted to carry out a track renewal on the route between Oberau and Farchant one week after this construction measure. In addition, rails were to be renewed in Garmisch-Partenkirchen at night from July 5th to 9th. On the section between Oberau and Garmisch-Partenkirchen is the town of Burgrain, where a regional train derailed on Friday for reasons that have not yet been clarified.
According to the report, Deutsche Bahn did not want to provide any information on the planned work and a possible connection with the accident in view of the ongoing investigations. The independent Federal Office for Railway Investigation BEU confiscated the accident train and also examined the tracks for track position errors, wrote the “Welt”.
The term track geometry error describes deviations in the height or width of the rail track from the desired dimensions, comparable to a bump in the ground on a road. This could cause a train to derail.
The Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann told Bayerischer Rundfunk on Monday that the cause of the accident was being “searched for with a focus on technical defects”. Wagon chassis have already been secured, “and it is currently being considered to what extent individual rails or sleepers must be secured. In any case, they are being meticulously examined and measured at the moment,” said the minister.
The regional train from Garmisch-Partenkirchen to Munich suddenly derailed shortly after departure on Friday. Four women and a 14-year-old were killed, one person was still in mortal danger.
According to Herrmann, there is currently no error on the part of the driver. But it is still being determined in all directions. (dpa, AFP)
