As of: February 23, 2024, 4:46 p.m
By: Dirk Walter
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Part of the destroyed S-Bahn is being transported away from Schäftlarn after the accident.
© Uwe Lein/dpa
Day two of the trial over the Schäftlarn S-Bahn accident: An expert proves that the accused train driver “clearly violated the rules”.
But there are also aspects that relieve him.
Munich – Martin Will (68) is an expert in the railway industry and is always asked when there is an accident on the railway.
He already investigated the devastating accident in Bad Aibling, but also an accident in Aichach in 2018 (two deaths).
Once the Garmisch-Partenkirchen disaster comes to trial, we will see him again - here too he is an expert.
Last Wednesday he explained the events of the Schäftlarn accident to the Munich district court.
Two S-Bahn trains collided on February 14, 2022, one passenger died and 51 people were injured.
Schäftlarn S-Bahn accident: misconduct in the driver's cab
Will drove along the route of the accident in the driver's cab of an S-Bahn and filmed it.
He also evaluated data.
The cause of the accident therefore seems to be clear: The train driver Richard Z. ran over an exit signal showing “Stop” when leaving the Ebenhausen-Schäftlarn train station.
When he received an emergency brake as a result, he authorized himself to continue driving on the single-track route by pressing a button in the driver's cab.
“Simply continuing the trip without the dispatcher’s permission is the biggest mistake possible,” Will said.
“A clear violation of the rules.” When Richard Z.'s S-Bahn had already accelerated to 67 km/h, he suddenly saw an oncoming S-Bahn that was now stationary and was heading towards Wolfratshausen.
Richard Z., as the expert's data analysis shows, initiated rapid braking - but too late: his S-Bahn rammed the stationary train at 57 km/h.
Richard Z. had previously fled from the driver's cab to the back of the passenger compartment.
This works because the door can be opened from the inside.
“Otherwise he wouldn’t have survived,” said the expert.
When the Hohenschäftlarn fire brigade commander found the train driver on the floor of the half-shattered S-Bahn, it probably already dawned on him that he had done something wrong.
“What happened, is this my fault?” he kept asking.
The commander stated this on record.
Even analysis of a hair sample and a blood sample cannot prove that Z. was under drugs or alcohol.
Richard Z. himself has no memory of the accident and cannot explain his misconduct.
There are also exculpatory tips
In his case, the fact that two emergency braking systems almost overlap when exiting the Ebenhausen-Schäftlarn train station could be a relief.
On the one hand, a train is braked with a 500 Hertz magnet installed on the rail if it is traveling faster than 25 km/h when leaving.
Secondly, a 2000 Hertz magnet acts if a train passes the exit signal despite a stop command.
Emergency braking through 500 Hertz monitoring is part of everyday life on the railway, but a stopped signal that has been exceeded is not.
The train driver is shown the emergency braking in the driver's cab, but not the reason.
Could it be that the train driver attributed the emergency braking to the wrong, less serious cause and therefore allowed himself to continue the journey, asked Judge Nesrin Reichle.
“I see a possibility,” said assessor Will.
In passing, possible safety deficiencies on the railway were discussed: Richard Z. had twelve speeding violations as a train driver in six months, which were not punished.
“I don’t understand how lax DB is handling this,” said Will.
Z.'s lawyer pointed out that the punishment for speeding violations is regulated in a works agreement between the DB and the works council - and that this was apparently very generous in favor of the train drivers.
The process continues.
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