Last updated: 16.01.2024, 09:42 a.m.
By: Dirk Walter
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In frosty temperatures, workers install the overhead line at the Daglfing S-Bahn station. © Marcus Schlaf
Slowly squeaking, the MTW rolls over the level crossing at Daglfing station. A worker stands on the yellow motor tower car, or MTW for short, and looks up. He checks whether the overhead line that has just been installed is correctly attached. On-site visit to the construction site on the route of the airport S-Bahn.
Where S-Bahn trains and freight trains usually alternate at high speed, there is now a construction site: Since 2 January, the route of the airport S-Bahn S8 between Daglfing and Johanneskirchen has been closed. There are diversions, train cancellations and a replacement timetable. The railway is replacing the overhead line over four kilometres and has also erected new masts. This will cost eleven million euros.
Electricity pylons from 1939
It's the same as almost everywhere else on the railway: the infrastructure on the route is ancient. "We still have catenary pylons from 1939 standing here," says site manager Katrin Weise. 150 of these steel giants, some of which are 15 meters high, will be taken off the power grid. They are to be removed later. Since the Daglfinger station used to be much larger and had up to nine tracks, some of the ancient masts have been scattered around the railway grounds for a long time anyway.
As early as 2022, Deutsche Bahn had begun building new concrete foundations for new pylons. Now the work is almost complete. The new pylons are in place, the installation of the overhead line has begun. 14 kilometres of copper contact wire are necessary for the double-track line, which even has three tracks at the station, says Vera Pfaff from the company Rail Power Systems. With the exception of a three-hour night break, work is now carried out around the clock in two shifts. 25 to 30 workers screw on the overhead line at a time. This is real manual work in icy temperatures. One of the workers is Ali Tutkun, who drives up and down the track in a pallet truck and tightens the wires with a wrench. The cold isn't a problem when you're moving, he says. His colleague jokes: "The work is the warmest jacket." The work is expected to be completed by next Monday, January 22, 4 a.m., when the S8 will run through again to the airport.