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Defendant (middle) next to lawyers: He says he can't remember the accident

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Sven Hoppe/dpa

The man in the dock sobs. "I'm so sorry for everything." And: "If I could - I would undo everything." The trial against the train driver presumably responsible began with an emotional confession two years after the fatal S-Bahn accident in Schäftlarn, Upper Bavaria. It was "inexplicable to him that I made such mistakes," said the 56-year-old before a jury at the Munich district court. “It was actually a completely normal day shift.”

A 24-year-old man was killed in the collision between two S-Bahn trains on Valentine's Day 2022 at around 4:35 p.m. in the middle of rush hour traffic. Dozens of people were injured, some seriously, including the accused train driver and his colleague from the oncoming S-Bahn.

»It was my big dream, even as a little boy: to be a train driver«

The public prosecutor's office accuses the defendant of negligent homicide and negligent bodily harm in 51 cases as well as intentionally endangering rail traffic. According to the investigation, the train driver had ignored a red signal and regulations. His train subsequently collided with an oncoming S-Bahn.

The defendant said he could not remember the accident, but accepted the results of the report. The trained turner had only passed the test to become a train driver nine months earlier. This was a childhood dream come true, said the man, who kept fighting back tears. "It was my big dream, even as a little boy, to be a train driver - and for something like that to happen to me," said the 56-year-old. He is no longer employed by Deutsche Bahn; he has been delivering mail since January. The route to Wolfratshausen, on which the accident occurred and which is not considered easy, was even a test route.

According to the prosecution, the man was driving train number 6785 on the day of the accident and initially ignored emergency braking in front of the Schäftlarn-Ebenhausen train station because the speed was too high. After the passengers got in and out, he is said to have driven off despite a red stop signal - and then also overrode the subsequent automatic emergency braking and accelerated to 67 kilometers per hour. “It was a mistake on my part, of course,” the man now says in court. »It is very difficult for me to believe that I have made such mistakes.«

Occasionally he was forced to brake because of speeding, but never on a single-track route; He never ignored a red stop signal. One instructor described him as a “model student.” He completed a “picture-book training.” A superior called him unobtrusive and “dutiful.” The man had twelve entries for emergency braking, which is rather below average.

Why he then violated the rules several times in a row on that Monday in February 2022 remained a mystery on the first day of the trial in court.

His colleague from the oncoming S-Bahn reported in court that he suffered 14 broken bones, including eight vertebral fractures, in the accident - one day before his 22nd birthday. He is doing well again and no longer suffers any consequences. However, he only works part-time and has started studying. “I want to create an alternative.” Something could happen so that he can no longer do the work.

When his former colleague apologized directly to him, he said kindly: "I'm sure you didn't do it on purpose."

swe/dpa