About a year ago, the train accident occurred in Garmisch, in which five people died and many more were injured. An interim report has now stated that the main cause of the train accident was damaged concrete sleepers. © Angelika Warmuth/dpa
Almost a year ago, the train accident occurred in Garmisch. According to the current state of affairs, the main reason for this is the concrete sleepers.
Garmisch – Shortly before the anniversary of the devastating train accident in Garmisch, the interim report of the Federal Bureau of Railway Accident Investigation is now available. On June 3, 2022, a regional train to Munich derailed, killing five people and injuring 78, 16 of them seriously.
Concrete sleepers are the main cause of Garmsicher train accident
According to the current state of investigation, damaged concrete sleepers were the main cause of the fatal train accident in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. This is the conclusion of an interim report by the Federal Bureau of Railway Accident Investigation (BEU), which was published on Thursday, 1 June.
In the interim report, the accident investigators cite a "defect in the superstructure" of the railway line as the primary cause of the derailment of the regional train. Accordingly, prestressed concrete sleepers that were laid at the scene of the accident would have been damaged. According to the report, these led to the so-called rail supports breaking away as a link between rail and concrete. "This is what is currently secured," said a BEU spokesman. "However, the investigations into the cause of the accident are much more extensive and ongoing."
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Interim report does not serve to apportion blame – investigations are underway
In the interim report, the authority also emphasizes that its investigations did not serve to establish fault, to clarify questions of liability or other civil law claims. The Munich II public prosecutor's office recently investigated four accused railway employees on suspicion of negligent homicide.
The railway had recently announced that it would replace around 480,000 concrete sleepers after the accident. The cause of the accident has not yet been conclusively clarified, it said. "According to the current state of knowledge, there are many indications that concrete sleepers could at least have been the cause of the accident." For this reason, the company has been checking sleepers with a certain rock mixture for months and replacing them if necessary. The Group always points out that these measures were taken as a precautionary measure. (fhz with material from dpa)
You can find even more up-to-date news from the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen on Merkur.de/Garmisch-Partenkirchen.
