Hopelessly overcrowded, a Breisgau S-Bahn drove from Breisach to Freiburg – the fault was a technical fault. The state transport ministry wants to solve the ongoing problems.
Commuters and students squeezed into a train on the Breisgau S-Bahn last Monday. Due to a technical malfunction, there was not enough space on the route between Breisach and Freiburg. The cause was again that two electric trains could not be coupled together. The limited space available caused anger and concern among passengers in view of the increasing number of infections caused by the corona virus. Uwe Lahl, head of the state transport ministry, comments on the problems.
BZ: Can you explain why it is so difficult to couple the trains on the Breisgau S-Bahn?
Lahl: In general, first of all: The values for delays and train cancellations have become much better on the Breisgau S-Bahn. The problem with the coupling of trains happens once or twice a week, according to Deutsche Bahn. These coupling problems must be reduced, we have already clearly addressed that.
BZ: The Breisgau-S-Bahn has been dealing with this problem since the time it went into operation with the new electric vehicles. What exactly is the Ministry of Transport doing to rectify this error?
Lahl: It is mainly spoken with the manufacturing company Alstom. This must check whether it is technically possible to upgrade. It can of course also be the case that there is an error in the operation. Therefore, the vehicle drivers should also be retrained to ensure that everything is done correctly when coupling. This has now been initiated as a result of what happened last Monday.
BZ: Are there any other technical problems on the route?
Lahl: This dome problem is currently a major problem. Otherwise everything that we have available drives on the track. We couldn’t add more trains that we don’t even have.
“I rate what happened on Monday on the route between Breisach and Freiburg as unacceptable.”
BZ: Coupling is often deliberately avoided on the route, for example at the train station in Gottenheim. That should improve in the future, right?
Lahl: We had a miserable performance on the track until the beginning of the year. The problem with the coupling was one of several. By simplifying the timetable, we have now achieved a punctuality on the Breisgau S-Bahn that is above 95 percent. That is not a bad value in a country comparison. But of course we want to return to the original concept with the timetable change in December. But we do that in small steps. I don’t want bigger problems to arise again.
BZ: The consequence of these technical problems is that trains are very full, especially during commuter times. How does the Ministry of Transport assess this situation in view of the increasing number of corona cases in the Freiburg region?
Lahl: I rate what happened on Monday on the route between Breisach and Freiburg as unacceptable. Especially when you consider that the region is also very close to France, where the number of corona cases is rising sharply again. I expect that what we have ordered will also be driven.
Uwe Lahl is Ministerial Director and Head of Office in the Ministry of Transport of the State of Baden-Württemberg.
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Thank you! Everyday it’s the same…shame on Deutsche Bahn! Now I have no seat even if it’s the first station. The whole train is filled with people even though they would have the possibility to place some other train parts. I hate taking the train caused by this.