European Railroad Discussion > German Dispatcher Arrested

Fox News is reporting that the German dispatcher who was on duty at the time of the February head on passenger train collision has been arrested and charged with manslaughter. According to reports, he was playing games on his cell phone when the accident occurred. Comforting to know next time you ride what's going on behind the scenes.

Was this the single track line east of Munich?

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-36025951

Interesting, but it still doesn't explain the German engineer that stated "it's impossible, it just can't happen" or something like that.  Does this mean that there is a hole in the German signalling system that they didn't know about?  How are they going to plug the hole?  Or is this a huge cover up for something more sinister. Most rail experts have stated that two trains on the same track impacting each other head on given the existing German signalling system, just can't happen.  Even if the signal dispatcher or whatever they call him had turned the train lose, the automatic system would have applied the brakes and stopped the trains.

jfrank39 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Interesting, but it still doesn't explain the
> German engineer that stated "it's impossible, it
> just can't happen" or something like that.  Does
> this mean that there is a hole in the German
> signalling system that they didn't know about? 
> How are they going to plug the hole?  Or is this
> a huge cover up for something more sinister. Most
> rail experts have stated that two trains on the
> same track impacting each other head on given the
> existing German signalling system, just can't
> happen.  Even if the signal dispatcher or
> whatever they call him had turned the train lose,
> the automatic system would have applied the brakes
> and stopped the trains.

There isn't a signalling system in the world that doesn't "have a hole in it", because any such system would be unworkable in conditions of failure. I don't know who the quoted "engineer" is, but his alleged comments sound rather typical of the crass mindless simplicity of some technical people.

As for the "sinister" possibilities, anything is possible (by definition), but there is an old medical adage that "common things occur commonly". I rode past the accident site a couple of weeks ago on a steam special, and it is exactly the sort of place where you might expect a signalman to be bored and distracted. (It is on the single track altenative route from Munich and Holzkirchen to Rosenheim). I suspect that there are much more important things that are being covered up by governments and press of all persuasions.

jfrank39 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Interesting, but it still doesn't explain the
> German engineer that stated "it's impossible, it
> just can't happen" or something like that.  Does
> this mean that there is a hole in the German
> signalling system that they didn't know about? 
> How are they going to plug the hole?  Or is this
> a huge cover up for something more sinister. Most
> rail experts have stated that two trains on the
> same track impacting each other head on given the
> existing German signalling system, just can't
> happen.  Even if the signal dispatcher or
> whatever they call him had turned the train lose,
> the automatic system would have applied the brakes
> and stopped the trains.

There are at least three different train safety systems in use in Germany. The busiest and the High-speed lines have the best systems, while backwater lines (majority) have poorer and older systems(like US ATS Automatic Train Stop). The line in question was equipped with PZB-90, which has some speed control, but is intermittent with updating only at wayside signal locations. Busier lines have some version of LZB or ETCS(ERTMS) with continuous updates.

jfrank39 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Interesting, but it still doesn't explain the
> German engineer that stated "it's impossible, it
> just can't happen" or something like that.  Does
> this mean that there is a hole in the German
> signalling system that they didn't know about? 
> How are they going to plug the hole? 

He should have appended if everyone has followed the rules to his statement. I'm sure that he was thinking of the technical part of the system and not the human interface.

Even a completely automated safety system has a human interface that requires following the rules. That may be for a system override in case of failure, rules that the person maintaininig the system must follow, or both.

In this case, the operator (in Real Railroad terms, he was not the dispatcher, just the CTC operator working under a dispatcher) failed to follow the rules regarding authorizing a train to pass a stop signal. The signal indication he gave was the equivalent of talking a train past a stop signal. There have been instances in the US of a control operator forgetting a train and authorizing an oposing train to pass a stop signal, assuming that light was a failure.

When a train is authorized to pass a stop signal, it is possible that the opposing train has already passed a clear or approach. I know of it happening. I've watched, gritting my teeth as I was seeing two trains in bighole headed for each other, with nothing I could do about it.

TAW