As of: January 21, 2024, 6:22 p.m
By: Dirk Walter
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Near miss: In January 2020, the two trains faced each other at a distance of 20 meters.
Photo: Bundespüolizei © Bundespüolizei
Munich/Griesen – It took four years, but now there is a final report from the Federal Office for Railway Accident Investigation (BEU) on a near train accident in Griesen (Garmisch-Partenkirchen district).
On January 22, 2020, a Werdenfelsbahn train traveling from Garmisch-Partenkirchen towards Reutte in Tyrol almost collided with the oncoming train.
The train driver was only able to stop his train traveling at almost 60 km/h on the single-track line and prevent a head-on collision by braking quickly - the trains were facing each other 20 meters apart.
The BEU writes that the cause of the incident was a train reporting procedure that was “not carried out in accordance with the regulations”.
“It is sufficiently likely that a train encounter ... at a higher speed would have resulted in a train collision.” So only with a lot of luck did the 60 passengers in total remain uninjured.
28 page long accident report
The 28-page accident report that the BEU has now presented contains a surprising result: the dispatchers in Griesen and Reutte ignored rules for “safe and unambiguous communication”.
In addition to the non-use of technical terms, the examiners also complained about the “strongly influenced by regional dialect” communication, which led to misunderstandings.
In its report, the BEU urges “observance of unconditional speaking discipline”.
It almost sounds like the admonition of a primary school student when the BEU writes: “The use of the German language should be as dialect-free as possible and should be done slowly, clearly and at a normal volume.” The dialect speech is even documented in the BEU report: “I hab “I’m just now on the phone with the control center in Garmisch and I didn’t know anything about it,” says Reutter.
“Mmh,” replies the man from Griesen.
“Maybe we can put a Dreiezwanzger in Griesen on a Zworezwangzer.” Another “Mmh” comes as an answer.
In addition, the two dispatchers probably wanted to cover up the matter.
They switched from the usual telephone line with tape recording to the private telephone, as the BEU complains.
“Uh... there's the train in front of you,” said the Griesen dispatcher.
“Call me on the phone,” replies the colleague from Reutte.
“Write down a number now!”
The two then apparently continue to communicate on their private cell phones - a clear violation of the rules.
One of several.
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January 22, 2020: Near accident at Griesen
The incident on January 22nd around 5 p.m., which also points to the desolate condition of many branch lines, had a history.
Shortly after train RB 5522 set off from Garmisch-Partenkirchen at 4:04 p.m., it had to be stopped by emergency braking.
At the Untergrainau stop a car rushed under the half-barrier.
The accident caused the train to be 25 minutes late and the usual timetable was disrupted.
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The problem approached in the form of RB 5523, which left Reutte as scheduled at 4:01 p.m.
Instead of at the Ehrwald Zugspitzbahn station, the trains should now pass each other at Griesen - this station also has two tracks.
But the Garmisch train driver was not informed about this.
That was the crucial mistake.
The train driver drove past the Griesen train station without stopping and noticed as he was leaving the stop that the train from Reutte was waiting at a signal not far away.
Due to the rapid braking, the train came to a stop 20 meters before the collision.
After the dispatchers had exchanged information, they apparently came to the conclusion that they would settle the matter between themselves “without initiating the emergency reporting chain” (according to the BEU).
They wanted to encourage the train driver to reverse his train to Griesen station - which is not allowed.
The train from Reutte could then have passed by.
The driver “refused this and informed the dispatching authority” about the incident.
“You, he has the control center... he called the emergency manager... you anyway,” says the Reutter dispatcher.
“Yeah, well, it’s over anyway,” murmurs the colleague from Griesen.
Bahn has retrofitted
The railway has now apparently technically upgraded the route.
There is a new “technical support for train reporting operations” that has been in operation in Griesen since June 2023.
A renewal of the signal box technology is also planned for October 2024.
The BEU report does not indicate whether the two dispatchers are still on duty.
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