German Train Crash Investigation Focus ‘On Signalling Error’
Investigations are looking at signal controller for clues on the Bavarian train disaster that killed 10 people. The trains crashed head-on while both were travelling at about 100km/h (62mph) east of Bad Aibling, a spa town about 60km south-east of Munich.
Question that needs answer:
Investigators will have to find out why a train that left Holzkirchen travelling east to Rosenheim was on the single track at 06:48, four minutes after it was due to reach its next stop at Kolbermoor, where it would have met the westbound train on a double track.
The westbound train from Rosenheim to Holzkirchen would have left Kolbermoor at 06:45 and would have been expected to be on the single track at the time of the accident.
Signal controller’s role:
- Safety system had been switched off to allow the eastbound train through on the single track line because it was several minutes late
- PZB braking system is supposed to kick in when a train runs through a red light, provided the safety system is switched on
A police spokesman rejected the theory as “pure speculation”.
