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S-Bahn chaos in Munich: One day relentlessly shows where the problems are - spicy rumors

2021-11-20T05:34:02.368Z


Is it coming - or is it not coming? Commuters on the Munich S-Bahn are currently asking themselves this question almost every day. There are more and more minor and major mishaps. Can the S-Bahn system still be saved?


Is it coming - or is it not coming?

Commuters on the Munich S-Bahn are currently asking themselves this question almost every day.

There are more and more minor and major mishaps.

Can the S-Bahn system still be saved?

Munich - Monday evening (November 15): In the middle of rush hour traffic, at 5:33 p.m., the route agent hits on the mobile phone: high route utilization between Pasing * and Ostbahnhof, plus a police operation because of several people on the tracks in Berg am Laim - it comes to "impairments".

Passengers can experience what they look like, for example, live at the main train station *: The train sequence is completely out of sync.

Within a quarter of an hour, three S 2 trains arrive, some to Dachau, some to Petershausen.

The S1 is banished to the main hall - it only leaves the main station and stops in Moosach * for the first time.

The S4 fails, after 40 minutes it comes shortened with two instead of three trains.

There is no need to think about any distance in the train, but people still squeeze into the wagon.

S-Bahn chaos in Munich: The train apologizes - again

This is not a problem for the Bavarian state government: "The mask * replaces the distance," said Transport Minister Kerstin Schreyer once.

One is still uncomfortable.

Meanwhile, the disruption agent is kicking out hectic: delays of up to 25 minutes, train cancellations, early train turns.

The system collapses around 9 p.m.: A signal box at Trudering is also broken.

The punctuality value on that day: a catastrophic 69.9 percent.

95 percent would be normal.

It is often like this or something like that.

S-Bahn spokesman Florian Kreibe says in such cases what he has to say: “We would like to apologize to all S-Bahn passengers.” And that “every disruption is one too many”.


There are also days when the S-Bahn * runs perfectly.

But - according to the subjective impression - they have become rarer.

Something is always.

What is noticeable here is that the number of infrastructure problems is increasing - defective points, problems with signals, interlockings that are prone to failure.

More and more delays at Deutsche Bahn?

This is also confirmed by a survey by the Bavarian Railway Company (BEG).

"A large proportion of delays * and train cancellations were caused by impairments in the infrastructure." The BEG attributes this to the "high construction volume", and there is a "processing backlog" in maintenance that is slowly being resolved, says quality manager Wolfgang Oeser.

The fact is: in October every tenth train was late.

Another seven percent of all trains failed completely.

The S-Bahn is at its limit.

Deutsche Bahn is a mega-corporation that is broken up into 600 individual companies.

One of the largest is "DB Netz", which is responsible for the infrastructure - that is, for rails, switches, signals.

It is the division that most recently generated 60 percent of DB profits.

Because for every train that is on the move in Germany, DB Netz collects train path fees.

It is usually a few euros per kilometer.

And here, say connoisseurs of the matter, the problem begins.

Does DB Netz pay too much attention to profitability - and too little to quality?


DB Netz: Planning errors in Holzkirchen cause "total chaos"

In the case of the S-Bahn, there is talk of “important points at neuralgic points”, which recently seriously disrupted traffic. Dilapidated rail material is one thing, mismanagement is another. At the Bayerische Regiobahn (BRB) managing director Arnulf Schuchmann of DB Netz is very annoyed - he recently made the "construction site madness" public in an unprecedentedly sharp press release.

In the Oberland, the planning error by DB Netz had apparently brought BRB rail traffic to a standstill.

What happened?

An apparently inexperienced employee had planned construction work at Holzkirchen station so that only one of the three through tracks remained open - for trains that are to swarm in three directions (Lenggries, Bayrischzell and Tegernsee).

That was mistake number one.

Error number two: A second planner created a construction site timetable for the BRB, but assumed that there were two through tracks.

The result: Holzkirchen became a bottleneck, the trains jammed in front of and behind the station.

“That led us into total chaos,” grumbles a BRB officer.

He is also annoyed that DB Netz was not allowed to publicly admit the error on the orders of the headquarters in Berlin.


DB Netz: a lot of money, too few specialists

8.5 billion euros - that is how much money DB Netz is allowed to build in Germany this year alone.

That is a record; there has never been so much money for the railway.

But it seems that DB Netz is unable to cope with this.

Those in the know say there is a shortage of staff and the right specialists.

"They are not set up correctly for this construction volume."


Construction work is one problem, the trains are another.

The S-Bahn has 238 ET 423 trains built in 1998 upwards, plus three dozen ET 420 trains, some of which date from the 1970s.

The copies of the old Olympic S-Bahn, actually ready for scrap, have been overhauled in the Nuremberg repair shop since the middle of the last decade and put on the Munich track.


S-Bahn Munich: Obsolete trains

Problem: The old train is very prone to failure, report the train driver, or at least “a little more maintenance-intensive”, as spokesman explains in the most beautiful railway German.

Among the 600 train drivers on the Munich S-Bahn there are some who do not want to drive the ET 420 because they are worried about getting stuck on the open route.

“Knowledge transfer” is also a problem, report employees: The ET 420 cannot be serviced quickly enough because the experts for the ancient train have long since retired.

The supply of spare parts is also difficult.

Spicy rumors: Do Munich S-Bahn trains have to be repaired in another state?

And then there are rumors.

On “Drehscheibe-online”, a specialist forum for rail freaks, reports are made of 70 ET 423 S-Bahn trains that have to go to the workshop in Hagen (North Rhine-Westphalia) for repairs.

The S-Bahn denies that. But it is true that the ET 423 is also getting on in years.

Even if the trains have only just got a new design in a three-year upgrade program, there are always damage: cracks in the bellows between the cars, ramshackle floors.


The spokesman promised that the S-Bahn would be made “more future-proof”.

But as a precaution, he adds: With 1,100 journeys a day, “disruptions cannot be completely avoided”.

(dw) * tz.de is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA

We have set up a Facebook group for every S-Bahn line, in which passengers can organize themselves: Form car pools if your S-Bahn fails.

Organize a taxi and share the cost with others.

Or simply ask other people affected for help - or offer them a place in your car.

Together with other commuters, you are less alone in the chaos of the S-Bahn.



You can also use the group on your S-Bahn line to inform yourself and others about the approximate time until train cancellations and delays can be expected.

Here you can find the list of all S-Bahn groups on Facebook.

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2021-11-20

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