D efective concrete sleepers could be the cause of the train accident in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Corresponding indications are condensed.
Defective concrete sleepers could have caused the Garmisch-Partenkirchen train accident. Corresponding indications are condensed. Deutsche Bahn reports an “extensive inspection and exchange program”. Around 200,000 sleepers of exactly the type of construction that the authorities in Bavaria are considering would be tested.
The transverse sleepers support the rails and are intended to ensure the correct gauge. In curves, they have to derive the centrifugal forces of the trains. On June 3, a regional train derailed on its way from Garmisch-Partenkirchen to Munich. Four women and a 13-year-old died. 16 people were seriously injured, about 50 slightly.
A recently published report by the Federal Ministry of Transport to the Bundestag Transport Committee speaks of “horizontal fractures in the concrete sleepers”. Therefore, the rails could have shifted under the load of the train in the curve. “As a result, there was probably an impermissible lane widening and the loss of lane guidance.”
Deutsche Bahn writes that it decided to carry out the inspection as a precaution – even if the investigation into the cause of the accident has not yet been completed. According to current knowledge, 0.25 percent of all concrete sleepers are affected. On average, the components are 15 years old.
Until the work is completed, the trains will run over the affected areas at low speed. In individual cases, sections of the route can also be closed. bay
