In the middle of the Oktoberfest hustle and bustle, Munich’s most important S-Bahn line collapses. Hundreds of passengers have to be rescued from tunnels.
Damage to the overhead line in the Munich S-Bahn tunnel led to massive traffic disruptions on Sunday evening. The central S-Bahn main line had to be completely closed between Ostbahnhof and Pasing – this had consequences for the thousands of visitors to the Oktoberfest. The Nina warning app also warned of the failure on Sunday evening.
During the night, the Munich S-Bahn announced that the damage had been repaired and that the trains were running according to the regular timetable again. However, there may still be occasional delays in the morning. The exact cause of the damage to the overhead line is still unclear and is being investigated by the federal police.
What had happened? At around 6:10 p.m., witnesses reported to the federal police an arc and a loud bang in the tunnel between the main train station and Hackerbrücke. Just five minutes later, a second bang followed, in which the overhead line tore off and fell onto a moving S3 S-Bahn train.
The consequences were dramatic: around 600 passengers were stuck in three trains in the tunnel and had to be evacuated by the fire department and federal police. There were around 300 people in one affected S3 alone.
For Oktoberfest visitors, the closure means significant problems when traveling to and from the Oktoberfest. The railway recommended switching to the subway lines U1 and U2 at the main station and U3 and U6 at Goetheplatz and Poccistraße.
160 federal police and around 130 fire and rescue services were involved in the large-scale operation. Numerous Deutsche Bahn Security employees also supported the measures.
