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Train of »Go Ahead« (symbolic image)
Photo: Karl-Josef Hildenbrand / dpa
Due to a dispute between the train driver and a person in charge of the Deutsche Bahn (DB), a fully occupied regional train has stopped in Swabia on the open track. The train of the operator Go-Ahead from Munich to Augsburg had stopped on 8 May near Mering (district of Aichach-Friedberg) for reasons that were initially incomprehensible.
As Go-Ahead and the rail operator DB Netz announced in a joint statement on Friday, there had been "different views on the interpretation of the existing set of rules" between the train driver and the dispatcher. That's why the train driver didn't continue. The rules and regulations are a collection of specifications and instructions for train drivers and dispatchers, among others, which are intended to guarantee safety in rail traffic.
According to media reports, around 600 passengers had to wait more than an hour in the train. Then the train went to the Meringen train station, where the passengers had to change. A woman had a panic attack in the situation.
»Completely incompetent«
According to the »Müncher Merkur«, a passenger asked after a long wait via the intercom on the train what was going on. The train driver replied by announcement and called the dispatcher "completely incompetent".
According to the statement of the two companies, the train had applied automatic safety braking because the train driver had forgotten to press a special button. After the standstill, the train driver had asked the DB employee for written confirmation that he would be allowed to continue driving.
However, the dispatcher said that a verbal instruction was sufficient. "Unfortunately, the clarification has dragged on too long," the companies say. DB Netz now wants to check whether the rules and regulations need to be clarified.
jpz/dpa