"Everyone screamed!": S-Bahn drivers describe the dramatic seconds when the trains collide
Created: 02/15/2022, 21:33
By: Bettina Sewald, Nina Bautz
Dramatic hours: The fire brigade on duty in the evening after the Schäftlarn accident.
© picture alliance/dpa |
Lennart Preiss
Two eyewitnesses report on the dramatic seconds in Schäftlarn when two trains crash into each other.
One of them is back on the S-Bahn the next day.
Schäftlarn – Günter Piermeier (63) keeps hearing the deafening bang in his head, on a sleepless night after the tragic S-Bahn accident.
The Munich resident was in the front car of the S7, which was heading towards Munich.
"A strong blow lifted my wife and I out of our seats.
Everyone screamed!” reports the IT clerk.
He and his wife came from hiking and had just sat down.
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Piermeier injured his back and his wife's feet.
The seconds after that seem surreal to him.
“I just thought: we hit something.
Maybe a truck.” Passengers ran through the wagon and asked if anyone was injured.
"I just wanted out.
I was afraid that the train would fall off the embankment.” Passengers use the emergency handles, Piermeier climbs outside.
"When I saw the other track, I guessed the bad extent.
The chassis had been torn out, and one of the wagons was standing across.”
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S-Bahn accident in Schäftlarn: Ickinger students only find out about the extent of the crash at home
The Ickinger student Quirin Überla (17) sat in this train with his girlfriend.
He was also lucky and was only slightly injured, although he was only about 20 meters behind the engine driver.
He helps an elderly couple off the train, then he and his girlfriend walk through the bushes back to the train station.
They just want to get away.
Take the bus and the S6 back to Sendling.
At home they read about the accident and saw pictures in the media.
Unbelievable: there they sat in it.
The day after, Piermeier drives to the X-ray to have his back injury clarified – by S-Bahn.
"I don't have a car." The feeling was oppressive.
"The railway is just not as highly technical as everyone thinks." He has long observed defects in the S7.
Last year he noticed an open barrier near the scene of the accident - and the S-Bahn was just passing.
Schäftlarn: Accident passenger calls for investment in new technology
The single track is particularly risky, says Piermeier.
Such an accident must be technically prevented.
"I don't understand why the railways don't invest in this technology, which stops the trains if one comes on the opposite side.
After all, a lot of money is spent on road improvements!”
