Two people have been killed and multiple passengers injured in a collision between a freight train and a passenger train in the southern German state of Bavaria. Police have arrested the on duty traffic controller.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/M. Balk/dpa
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Two trains crashed into each other just outside the southern German town Aichach late Monday, killing at least two people, police said.
Rail operator Deutsche Bahn said a commuter train hit a freight service, which was stationary, on a single stretch of rail between Ingolstadt and Augsburg at around 9.20 p.m. local time (1920 UTC).
"There are some seriously injured and others only lightly," a Deutsche Bahn spokesman told the German dpa press agency.
No limits: World's fastest trains
Fast trains are powerful status symbols, attracting international attention for manufacturers and even countries. Thirty years ago the Germans were the fastest. Now, the Chinese are speeding their way to the forefront.
Image: imago/imagebroker
A German world record
By hitting 406 kilometers per hour (252 miles per hour), the German Intercity-Express (ICE) was the fastest train in the world. More than 11,000 horsepower was needed in order for the ICE to reach this speed between the cities of Würzburg and Fulda! But this was 30 years ago and a lot has happened in the meantime — with much of the action in Asia.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
France takes the lead
But the German speed dream was short-lived. Just two years later, a French Train a Grande Vitesse (TGV) hit the 515-kilometers-per-hour mark and "pulverized" the German record, as France's state railway still boasts today. In 2007, the latest version, the AGV, reached 574 kilometers per hour. As a rule though, the trains travel at a maximum of 320 kilometers per hour.
Image: AP
The one with the nose
The Japanese weren't just standing by the wayside, but developed one of the most iconic trains in the world, the Shinkansen, better known as the bullet train. In normal operation they travel a maximum of 320 kilometers per hour — similar to the French AGV. Incidentally the long nose is not just for looks but there to help eliminate the problem of "tunnel boom" when entering tunnels at high speeds.
Image: Reuters/Kyodo
China playing catch-up
But the Chinese also want a piece of the record pie. And by now Chinese trains are making it close to the 500-kilometers-per-hour mark. China's new express train Fuxing Hao ("Renaissance") travels up to 350 kilometers per hour between Shanghai and Beijing. It only takes four and a half hours for the 1,300-kilometer journey. In a few years developers want to average 400 kilometers per hour.
Image: picture-alliance/ZUMAPRESS.com
Germany puts on the brakes
In 1980, Germans built a test track for a magnetic-levitation or maglev train. This marvel of engineering was driven, guided and held in suspension by powerful electromagnetic forces. During trial runs on a 30-kilometer test track, the train reached speeds of up to 450 kilometers per hour. Billions were invested, but in 2011 the government stopped funding the project.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Fast and up in the air
In Germany the magnetic-levitation era was over. But the Chinese kept at it. The Shanghai Maglev Train or Shanghai Transrapid is currently the world's fastest commercial train in operation. Magnetic levitation technology allows it to reach an operating speed of 430 kilometers per hour. The 30.5-kilometer journey from busy Shanghai to the airport now takes just eight minutes.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
A bee that doesn't fly
Shanghai is not alone. South Korea also has a new maglev train called the Ecobee. This urban line connects Incheon Airport with Yongyu which is 6 kilometers away. Opened in 2016, the government initiated this ambitious project in 2006 to show off its range of magnetic technologies; though this unmanned train can only travel at a speed of around 80 kilometers per hour.
Image: picture-alliance/Yonhap
Unlimited possibilities?
Not far behind, in Japan a maglev train is set to connect Tokyo with Nagoya by 2027. The train will float 10 centimeters (4 inches) above the tracks and be powered by electrically charged magnets. But this train will be much faster than its Korean cousin. The Japanese journey is set to take only 40 minutes, instead of the 90 minutes with the bullet train today.
Image: picture-alliance/AP/Yomiuri Shimbun
More SciFi than choo-choo
An idea for a completely new high-speed transport system comes from Elon Musk, the founder of the space company SpaceX and the car maker Tesla. In his "Hyperloop" passengers are electrically driven in capsules at speeds of around 1,225 kilometers per hour in vacuum tubes. The first tests are running in California, but France is getting on the Hyperloop bandwagon too by building its own test track.
Image: REUTERS/Nick Kincade/Tesla Motors
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The two fatalities have been identified as the 37-year-old driver of the commuter train and a 73-year-old female passenger. Despite the head-on colliision, the driver of the freight train suffered no visible injuries.
The cause of the collision was not immediatelly clear. Neither train appeared to have derailed leading up to it.
Rail traffic controller investigated
Later on Tuesday, authorities arrested the 24-year-old traffic controller on duty during the time of the crash on suspicion of negligence.
The man is suspected of negligent homicide, but the police were not able to determine whether or not he was distracted or made a mistake.
"It's much too soon to say that," police spokesman Markus Trieb told the press.
Officials said they were trying to establish how fast the trains were traveling when they crashed and whether the signal lights were functioning properly. A preliminary check showed no signs of malfunction, authorities said.
Germany's national rail company Deutsche Bahn employs over 12,000 traffic controlers in charge of directing some 40,000 trains every day.
The central station in Aichach remained cordoned off by early Tuesday. However, regional trains crossing Bavaria would still continue to run through the town.
The route between the cities of Ingolstadt and Augsburg near Aichach was also to remain closed until at least Wednesday.
Police also said around 15 passengers in the commuter train left the scene after the incident. The officials called on them to contact the police and share their accounts.
A day of train crashes
The incident in Aichach was the second of two serious train crashes the southern German state of Bavaria saw on Monday. Earlier, a train hit a car at a level crossing without barriers in the town Seeshaupt, on Lake Starnberg.
The impact saw the train drag the car for several hundred meters. Both people in the vehicle were seriously injured but survived the accident. A further person on the train was also injured.
Across the border in the Austrian state of Styria, a passenger train collided with a vehicle at a crossing in the early hours of Tuesday. According to initial reports, several people were injured in that incident.
