New prestige railway line to the Bavarian border caught a breakdown at the start - "We're sorry for ourselves"

Created: 12/14/2022 11:41 am

December 6: An ICE train (r) and a regional train (l) are on the new railway line between Wendlingen and Ulm on the Filstal Bridge.

The Wendlingen-Ulm high-speed line went into operation on December 11.

© Christoph Schmidt/dpa

It was supposed to save the passengers time, instead there was trouble and a hot drink as compensation: A new prestige railway line on the Bavarian border got off to a bad start.

Stuttgart – The federal, state and railways celebrated the new high-speed route between Wendlingen and Ulm with a lot of hoopla and celebrities.

It is faster, more modern and in general.

A train driver unintentionally messed up the timetable on the second day, as BW24 also reports.

There were also other cancellations and delays.

Train route Stuttgart - Ulm: quarter of an hour saved - actually

Actually, the journey between Baden-Württemberg's state capital Stuttgart and the city of Ulm on the border with Bavaria should be a quarter of an hour faster.

Only one day after the start, there were already considerable delays on the new line between Wendlingen and Ulm.

“We feel sorry for ourselves on the first day”

The train rolled backwards on Monday morning: Due to a technical breakdown, trains towards Stuttgart had to be routed back to Ulm and routed over the old, slower route over the Alb.

Trains were sometimes more than an hour late.

"We can't dial in on the new route," said a train driver.

“We feel sorry for ourselves on the first day.” Passengers who were stuck in a tunnel for a long time were offered a hot drink as compensation.

The reason for the breakdown: According to the railways, a train driver made a mistake when starting the new train control system, the European Train Control System (ETCS).

That's why his ICE could not connect to the train's control system on the new line in Baden-Württemberg, as a spokeswoman for the railways told the German Press Agency.

"The safety systems prevented the journey from continuing and the train had to turn back."

Train got stuck in the tunnel

The train got stuck in the tunnel, the route was blocked for almost two hours, according to the railways.

Several regional and long-distance trains have been diverted via the old route.

"Meanwhile, the trains are rolling again according to plan," said the spokeswoman on Monday afternoon.

The train drivers would be sensitized again.

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According to the company, this was an exception: "Since the start of operations on Sunday, 99 percent of the trains have run over the new route without any problems," it said.

When asked, however, a railway spokeswoman explained that these 99 percent only take into account the trains that actually drove on the new line - the diverted ones were therefore not included.

According to Bahn, two trains had to be diverted to the old Alb route on Sunday - due to delays so that the new route was not blocked, it said.

On Monday evening there were still train cancellations and numerous delays on the route from Stuttgart to Ulm, but that was not due to the new line, but to vehicle malfunctions and a driver failure, the railway said.

Train safety system sometimes causes problems

ETCS stands for a new train control system that the engine drivers have to dial into in order to be able to drive on the new line.

Systems such as ETCS and also digital interlockings should significantly increase capacity on the rails, for example because trains can use them to run at closer intervals.

After ten years of construction, the new line, which cost around four billion euros, was only inaugurated by political celebrities on Friday and has been in regular operation with the new timetable since Sunday.

Michael Theurer (from left), Parliamentary State Secretary to the Federal Minister for Digital Affairs and Transport, Richard Lutz, CEO of Deutsche Bahn AG, and Winfried Kretschmann (Bündnis 90/Die Grünen), Prime Minister of Baden-Württemberg, stand on December 9th.

in front of the train during the special trip to celebrate the opening of the new Wendlingen-Ulm railway line in Ulm.

A special ICE train with invited guests travels from Stuttgart via the new line from Stuttgart to Ulm.

+++ dpa picture radio +++ © Bernd Weißbrod/dpa

The federal, state, cities and railways had actually advertised widely that trains would in future run at maximum speeds of 250 kilometers per hour over the sometimes steep route and thus also shorten travel times to Munich and Stuttgart.

Half of the 60-kilometer track runs through newly built tunnels.

The new route should also improve the daily service between Stuttgart and Munich by around 20 to 90 trips.

There was also trouble at Kaufland – a customer fled to Aldi.