"Sch..., there's a train coming": What happened in the seconds before the S7 accident
Created: 2022-02-15Updated: 2022-02-15, 7:24 p.m
By: Sebastian Horsch, Nadja Hoffmann, Carl-Christian Eick, Dirk Walter, Martin Becker
"Sch..., there's a train coming" were apparently the engine driver's last words before the collision.
On the day after the S-Bahn accident near Munich, the snippets of information slowly come together to form a picture.
© Hermsdorf-Hiss/Open Street Map/Graphic: ike
Two S-Bahn trains collide, one person dies and 18 others are injured.
After the train accident near Schäftlarn in the district of Munich, investigators are looking for the cause - and have the first clues.
Schäftlarn – The day after brings more sad details.
The passenger who lost his life near Schäftlarn when two S-Bahn trains collided on Monday afternoon (February 14) was called Mustafa.
He came to Germany from Afghanistan in 2018, was 24 years old and lived in an asylum center in Wolfratshausen.
18 more of the 95 occupants were injured in the accident - six of them seriously, including the two train drivers.
Daniel Buck, commander of the Hohenschäftlarn fire brigade, draws a dramatic picture of the situation when the rescue services arrive.
They would have fought their way through the undergrowth to the tracks with chainsaws.
"We initially left those who could scream and took care of those who could no longer speak," says Buck.
"Almost everyone was covered in blood - the situation is overwhelming, you have to decide who to help first."
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S-Bahn accident in Schäftlarn: Lockführer had the “unimaginable luck of his life”
In addition to trapped passengers, the focus of the helpers was on the two train drivers.
"The engine driver of the S7 in the direction of Munich apparently initiated an emergency brake and then saved himself to the rear," suspects Buck.
The engine driver of the S-Bahn in the direction of Wolfratshausen, meanwhile, had "had the unimaginable luck of his life".
In the completely destroyed cabin, 30 centimeters that remained as a buffer would have saved him.
The question that is still open is: How could this happen?
At around 4:35 p.m., the two trains on line S7 collided on the single-track section.
What is certain is that the S-Bahn from Munich was about ten minutes late due to a level crossing disruption.
The return train, which was scheduled to cross in Icking, was therefore routed one station further to Ebenhausen-Schäftlarn.
Investigations after the Schäftlarn S-Bahn crash: should the S7 have to wait?
This is unusual, normally no train crossings take place at this point.
But there are also two tracks in Ebenhausen-Schäftlarn, so the S-Bahn trains can pass each other.
However, the S7 from Wolfratshausen would have had to wait until the oncoming train arrived at the station – why it drove off anyway and why various technical safety systems did not work is the subject of the investigation.
The S7 route has a number of slow-moving sections and is considered by engine drivers to be the most difficult S-Bahn route of all - it is not without reason that all driving authorization tests take place there.
But it's not technically antediluvian.
There is a "punctiform train control system" (PZB) that brakes trains in an emergency.
According to the situation, the PZB triggered and brought the train from Munich to a standstill just before Ebenhausen-Schäftlarn.
S7 accident in Schäftlarn: What happened just before the collision?
"Sh... there's a train coming"
But why did the train from Wolfratshausen leave the station?
One theory: The train driver could have been instructed to drive "on sight" - but misunderstood this as a start command.
He drove over a red signal (the technical term for the signal is Esig).
Then an emergency brake took effect, which was obviously neutralized by the engine driver.
"After that," according to the emergency services, "he just yelled into the radio: Sch..., there's a train coming...".
He braked a little more – the emergency braking described by Fireman Buck – but it was too late: the trains crashed into each other at a measured speed of 57 km/h.
The train is covered.
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The police seized the trains' tachographs, and the Munich II public prosecutor's office was still there on the day of the accident, but was also taciturn.
The police are currently not assuming that the salvage of the accident trains can begin quickly.
S-Bahn accident in Schäftlarn: the route will be closed for a few days
The cranes that were set up to stabilize the demolished S-Bahn were no longer needed at midday.
In the meantime, a larger crane has been requested with which the trains can be lifted off the track at a later date.
According to reports, they should not be transported by train but by articulated lorry.
The S-Bahn line will be closed for a few more days – the tracks are also damaged.
S-Bahn line S7 currently only runs between Munich and Höllriegelskreuth.
From there there are shuttle buses to and from Wolfratshausen.
The federal highway 11, which leads directly past the scene of the accident in the district of Munich, should be passable again today - something normal at the site of a disaster.
