Could the accident at the level crossing in Nied have been avoided? The position has been considered dangerous for years. But despite warnings, the train did nothing. Anger mingles with the grief for a killed cyclist.
- On Thursday evening, a terrible train accident happened at the Oeserstrasse level crossing in Frankfurt-Nied
- The level crossing has long been considered dangerous and has been replaced by an underpass for decades
- Anger mingles with the mourning for the 16-year-old accident at Deutsche Bahn
Frankfurt - The horror is great after the horrific accident at the Oeserstrasse level crossing. People have laid flowers, lit candles. Anger comes to the horror of Deutsche Bahn and the city, who have been debating for decades unsuccessfully about finally replacing the last level crossing in Frankfurt with barrier keeper's houses by an underpass.
Train crash in Frankfurt: anger mingles with grief - why has nothing happened for so long?
So far, it has only been the annoyance of the loss of time that hundreds suffer every day at the constantly closed barrier in Frankfurt-Nied, and the exhaust fumes of the waiting cars - now one person has lost his life, two more are seriously injured: died on Thursday against 8 pm a 16-year-old under a train of the Hessische Landesbahn at the open barrier; a cyclist (52), father of three children and a driver (50) were seriously injured. The train driver, who had initiated emergency braking, is in shock. The 35 passengers on the train were not injured. Psychological emergency workers were on duty.
Mayor Susanne Serke (CDU) and the Lower City Councilor Milli Romic (SPD) stood at the level crossing in front of the cameras of the Hessenschau and RTL yesterday afternoon. Susanne Serke tried to keep her composure, Romic's tears flowed.
Dangerous level crossing in Frankfurt-Nied: New reasons for delays
Local politicians feel helpless. Nevertheless, the local manager of Frankfurt-Nied yesterday sent a CDU parliamentary table template for the local council meeting on Tuesday, May 12, to the factions of the district parliament and asked for support: "I would be happy if as many factions as possible and of course also non-attached members join the proposal and we can introduce and adopt it as a joint proposal, ”she says.
It is an attempt to put pressure on the city and the responsible DB Netz AG in the face of ever new reasons why it cannot go on: “So far, none of the plans have been implemented. Instead, there were always shifts - most recently due to renewed need for coordination due to a ruling by the European Court of Justice on the application of the fee scale for engineering services. The time for discussion and postponement is now finally over. ”The SPD, FDP, Linke and BFF already agreed yesterday to sign the application. But it seems like a fight against windmills.
Train crash in Frankfurt: The dangerous level crossing has been an issue for more than a hundred years
In 1915, during the time of the emperor, the first thought was given to removing the level crossing. There has been serious discussion about this since the mid-1980s: When the railway underpass at the Nieder S-Bahn station was inaugurated a few hundred meters southwest in 1988, the second underpass was to follow on foot - nothing happened. In 2005 the city council in Römer accepted the request of Karlheinz Bührmann, a Lower CDU man, to remove the barriers. An engineering office was commissioned by the city of Frankfurt to draw up plans, but it soon became clear that the project was not a priority for Deutsche Bahn . At least that was what the authorized representative of the Deutsche Bahn for Hessen, Dr. Klaus Vornhusen.
The level crossing in Frankfurt Nied does not seem to be a priority for DB
No priority - the citizens of the Frankfurt district see it differently: drivers, cyclists, pedestrians, and residents suffer from the traffic obstacle. Sometimes the barriers stay closed for up to 20 minutes, scolding the down. The daily traffic jams are a nuisance, and dangerous situations arise again and again when drivers, cyclists or pedestrians still want to get under the barriers that are already lowering quickly. At the time of the accident on Thursday (07.05.2020) a guard was on duty, said the spokesman for the federal police , Ralf Ströher.
The course of the accident is still unclear, the investigation is ongoing. Aerial photos were taken from a police helicopter on Thursday evening. The police will set up a special investigation group on Monday. "Then we also quickly expect results," said Ströher. The railway said that no statements can be made as to the cause of the accident. The route is expected to remain closed until Monday. DB Group representative Vornhusen expressed his sympathy to the relatives, as did the Hessian State Railway, whose fleet includes the train.
Holger Vonhof
