Passenger Trains > German ICE-3's withdrawn because of wheel defects.

It appears the German railroad pulled all ICE-3 trains of due to a series of wheel defects found last thurday.
The defects were found on a train that derailed at frankfurt or koln.
there is no highspeed ICE international service from Amsterdam either.
All wheels need to be tested by ultra sound at 5 locations in Germany before the trainsets can be released.

Maybe the wheels were manufactured in China?

concrete ties strike again!

How in gods name do you guys assign fault by just flapping your gums.
Like old woman.geeze.

Presseinformation

Deutsche Bahn unterzieht ICE 3-Fahrzeuge einer zusätzlichen technischen Überprüfung
Überspringen: Deutsche Bahn unterzieht ICE 3-Fahrzeuge einer zusätzlichen technischen Überprüfung
Personenverkehrs-Vorstand Rausch: Sicherheit der Fahrgäste hat oberste Priorität - Zugausfälle werden minimal gehalten
(Berlin, 10. Juli 2008) Ab Freitag 00:00 Uhr wird die Deutsche Bahn einen Teil ihrer ICE 3-Zugflotte zu zusätzlichen technischen Überprüfungen in die Werkstätten rufen.

„Die Sicherheit unserer Fahrgäste hat oberste Priorität und daher wollen wir jedes Risiko von vornherein ausschließen“, betont Dr. Karl-Friedrich Rausch, Vorstand Personenverkehr der Deutschen Bahn. „Wir bitten unsere Kunden um Verständnis, dass es aufgrund der Überprüfung zu einzelnen Zugausfällen und Komfort-Einschränkungen kommt und arbeiten mit Hochdruck daran, für möglichst viele Verbindungen Ersatzlösungen zur Verfügung zu stellen.“

Der überwiegende Teil der deutschen Fernverbindungen wird von den Zugausfällen nicht betroffen sein. Für Kunden stehen aktuelle Informationen zu Fahrplanänderungen ab sofort unter der kostenlosen Hotline 08000 99 66 33 und unter www.bahn.de/aktuell zur Verfügung.

Anlass für die Vorsichtsmaßnahme war eine defekte Radsatzwelle des ICE 518 am Mittwoch bei der Ausfahrt aus dem Kölner Hauptbahnhof. Die Deutsche Bahn arbeitet zusammen mit der Herstellerindustrie mit Hochdruck an der Lösung des Problems.

„Mit den jetzt stattfindenden Zusatzuntersuchungen gehen wir auf Nummer Sicher und stellen die zweifelsfreie Einsatzfähigkeit der Züge her“, so Rausch weiter.

Herausgeber: Deutsche Bahn AG
Potsdamer Platz 2, 10785 Berlin, Deutschland
Verantwortlich für den Inhalt: Konzernsprecher/
Leiter Unternehmenskommunikation
Oliver Schumacher

Here's the BabelFish translation of the previous post:

"German course submits ICE 3-Fahrzeuge of an additional technical examination Jump over: German course submits ICE 3-Fahrzeuge of an additional technical examination Passenger traffic executive committee intoxication: Security of the passengers has highest priority - course losses are kept minimal (Berlin, 10 July 2008) starting from Friday 00:00 clock will call the German course a part of its ICE 3-Zugflotte to additional technical examinations into the workshops. „The security of our passengers wanted, stresses highest priority and from there we each risk from the beginning to exclude “Dr. Karl Friedrich intoxication, executive committee passenger traffic of the German course.

"„We ask our customers for understanding the fact that it comes due to the examination to individual course losses and comfort restrictions and works with high pressure to place for as much as possible connections substitute solutions for the order. “ The predominant part of the German Fernverbindungen will not be concerned of the course losses. For customers current information is available to changes in the timetable immediately under the free hotline 08000 99 66 33 and under www.bahn.de/aktuell. Cause for the precautionary measure was a defective wheel set wave of the ICE 518 on Wednesday with the exit from Cologne main station.

"The German course works together with the manufacturer industry with high pressure on the solution of the problem. „With the auxiliary investigations taking place now we continue safe and to place the serviceability free of doubts of the courses ago “, thus intoxication.

"Publisher: German course AG Potsdamer place 2, 10785 Berlin, Germany Responsible for contents: Company speaker Leader enterprise communication Olive Schumacher"

All of which makes about as much sense to me as the post in German.

Ken

Do these trainsets have dual-block wheels?

Adam

No all Duo block wheels were removed from service after accident at Eschede

krapplem Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Here's the BabelFish translation of the previous
> post:
>
> "German course submits ICE 3-Fahrzeuge of an
> additional technical examination Jump over: German
> course submits ICE 3-Fahrzeuge of an additional
> technical examination Passenger traffic executive
> committee intoxication: Security of the passengers
> has highest priority - course losses are kept
> minimal (Berlin, 10 July 2008) starting from
> Friday 00:00 clock will call the German course a
> part of its ICE 3-Zugflotte to additional
> technical examinations into the workshops. „The
> security of our passengers wanted, stresses
> highest priority and from there we each risk from
> the beginning to exclude “Dr. Karl Friedrich
> intoxication, executive committee passenger
> traffic of the German course.
>
> "„We ask our customers for understanding the
> fact that it comes due to the examination to
> individual course losses and comfort restrictions
> and works with high pressure to place for as much
> as possible connections substitute solutions for
> the order. “ The predominant part of the German
> Fernverbindungen will not be concerned of the
> course losses. For customers current information
> is available to changes in the timetable
> immediately under the free hotline 08000 99 66 33
> and under www.bahn.de/aktuell. Cause for the
> precautionary measure was a defective wheel set
> wave of the ICE 518 on Wednesday with the exit
> from Cologne main station.
>
> "The German course works together with the
> manufacturer industry with high pressure on the
> solution of the problem. „With the auxiliary
> investigations taking place now we continue safe
> and to place the serviceability free of doubts of
> the courses ago “, thus intoxication.
>
> "Publisher: German course AG Potsdamer place 2,
> 10785 Berlin, Germany Responsible for contents:
> Company speaker Leader enterprise communication
> Olive Schumacher"
>
> All of which makes about as much sense to me as
> the post in German.
>
> Ken


Well, you have to twist the babelfish's tail to more accurately tune the translation.

Every hitchhiker knows this ;)

Ich Kann Deutsch but to have a computer translate provides ridiculous results.

Maybe we can get a better answer from someone over on the international board?

The translation sounds like the English I get from the Cisco customer support people, only with an Indian accent.

40 years after Star Trek went off the air and we still don't seem to be any closer to Captain Kirk's Universal Translator.

I think it said in there somewhere that Dr Karl Friedrich was intoxicated!

cp1400

There are much better translation tools than the ones that power Babelfish. But they're expensive.

I've translated the press release below.

Jaap Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> How in gods name do you guys assign fault by just
> flapping your gums.
> Like old woman.geeze.
>
> Presseinformation
>
> Deutsche Bahn unterzieht ICE 3-Fahrzeuge einer
> zusätzlichen technischen Überprüfung
> Überspringen: Deutsche Bahn unterzieht ICE
> 3-Fahrzeuge einer zusätzlichen technischen
> Überprüfung
> Personenverkehrs-Vorstand Rausch: Sicherheit der
> Fahrgäste hat oberste Priorität - Zugausfälle
> werden minimal gehalten
> (Berlin, 10. Juli 2008) Ab Freitag 00:00 Uhr wird
> die Deutsche Bahn einen Teil ihrer ICE 3-Zugflotte
> zu zusätzlichen technischen Überprüfungen in
> die Werkstätten rufen.
>
Press release
German Railways is withdrawing ICE 3 vehicles for an additional technical inspection
Director of Passenger Transport Rausch: The safety of our passengers has the highest priority - train cancellations will be kept to a minimum (Berlin, July 10, 2008). Beginning on Friday at 12 AM German Railways will call a portion of its ICE 3 train fleet to additional technical inspections in the workshops.

> „Die Sicherheit unserer Fahrgäste hat oberste
> Priorität und daher wollen wir jedes Risiko von
> vornherein ausschließen“, betont Dr.
> Karl-Friedrich Rausch, Vorstand Personenverkehr
> der Deutschen Bahn. „Wir bitten unsere Kunden um
> Verständnis, dass es aufgrund der Überprüfung
> zu einzelnen Zugausfällen und
> Komfort-Einschränkungen kommt und arbeiten mit
> Hochdruck daran, für möglichst viele
> Verbindungen Ersatzlösungen zur Verfügung zu
> stellen.“

"The safety of our passengers has top priority and we therefore want to rule out all risk from the outset," noted Dr. Karl-Friedrich Rausch, Director of Passenger Transport for German Railways. "We ask our customers for their understanding that due to the inspections there will be some train cancellations and reductions in comfort levels and that we are working at full speed to establish replacement service for as many train connections as possible."

>
> Der überwiegende Teil der deutschen
> Fernverbindungen wird von den Zugausfällen nicht
> betroffen sein. Für Kunden stehen aktuelle
> Informationen zu Fahrplanänderungen ab sofort
> unter der kostenlosen Hotline 08000 99 66 33 und
> unter www.bahn.de/aktuell zur Verfügung.

The predominant part of German long distance connections will not be affected by the train cancellations. For customers additional information on schedule changes is available immediately on the complimentary Hotline 08000 99 66 33 and at www.bahn.de/aktuell.

>
> Anlass für die Vorsichtsmaßnahme war eine
> defekte Radsatzwelle des ICE 518 am Mittwoch bei
> der Ausfahrt aus dem Kölner Hauptbahnhof. Die
> Deutsche Bahn arbeitet zusammen mit der
> Herstellerindustrie mit Hochdruck an der Lösung
> des Problems.

The impetus for this cautionary action was a defective wheelset on ICE 518 on Wednesday during the departure from Cologne Main Station. German Railways is working at top speed together with the manufacturer to find a solution to the problem.

>
> „Mit den jetzt stattfindenden
> Zusatzuntersuchungen gehen wir auf Nummer Sicher
> und stellen die zweifelsfreie Einsatzfähigkeit
> der Züge her“, so Rausch weiter.

"With the additional inspections going on now we are playing it safe and are working to produce a readiness for service that is free of doubt," Rausch continued.

>
> Herausgeber: Deutsche Bahn AG
> Potsdamer Platz 2, 10785 Berlin, Deutschland
> Verantwortlich für den Inhalt: Konzernsprecher/
> Leiter Unternehmenskommunikation
> Oliver Schumacher

Boilerplate boilerplate boilerplate.

Also, my post from the International board:

The derailment occurred at very low speed while departing Köln Hbf on Wednesday. As of Saturday ten ICE 3 units had undergone inspection and were returned to service. Fifteen additional trains are expected to be cleared by the end of the weekend.

As of today there is limited service to/from Amsterdam, as three of the trains returned to service yesterday were of the multi-system type (ICE 3M). Additional service is being provided by standard trains to the border station.

Also as of today there are very few trains that have been completely annulled. Rather, most are running either with reduced capacity or on shortened routes.

Finally, ultrasonic testing of wheel sets has been ordered every 60,000 km rather than every 300,000 km as usual.

Most service will be restored by Monday. Completely normal service is expected to be restored by mid-week.

Also, for those of you really interested in the service details, here's the list of service modifications for Sunday resulting from the wheelset issue:
http://www.bahn.de/blitz/view/mdb/tp/UF0-attachment-20080713_zugnummerverzeichnis_ice_w_v01.pdf

Here's your legend for translation:
"Zugnr" = "Train #"
"planmäßig von/nach" = "scheduled from/to"
"unterliegt folgenden Abweichungen" = "subject to the following changes"
"beschränkt auf" = "limited to"
"ersetzt durch" = "replaced by"
"verkehrt als" = "operating as"
"verringertes Platzangebot möglich" = "limited seating availability possible"
"Zusatzzug" = "added train"
"planmäßig" = "as scheduled"
"ca. 30 Minuten später ab Köln" = "Departs Cologne approx. 30 minutes later"
"fällt aus" = "cancelled"
"*1) hält auch in Siegburg/Bonn, Montabaur und Limburg Süd, jedoch nicht in Köln-Deutz/Messe" = "also stopping at Siegburg/Bonn, Montabaur and Limburg Süd, but not at Cologne-Deutz/Messe"

Thanks PennEngineer

Here is a related article in the English language, international version of Der Spiegel:

http://tinyurl.com/6xgxl7

"SPIEGEL has learned that on Friday morning, the Cologne Public Prosecutor's Office opened an investigation into German national railway Deutsche Bahn because it may have known about problems with a high-speed train before it derailed on Wednesday, thus endangering passengers and the national rail network."

"The high-speed train, part of German rail's fleet of ultra-modern, third-generation ICE trains, derailed shortly after leaving Cologne's central station en route to Düsseldorf on Wednesday afternoon, bringing train travel between the heavily-trafficked stations to a standstill for hours. The national railway, Deutsche Bahn, was forced to cancel 90 train connections and recall all its newest ICEs to maintenance sites for inspection."

"Public prosecutors now have evidence that the train's wheels or axels may have been damaged earlier -- possibly when it departed from a station at the Frankfurt International Airport. Passengers allegedly repeatedly complained to train crew of hearing suspicious noises."

"Prosecutors suspect that the train travelled with a defect wheel or axel along the high-speed line between Frankfurt and Cologne, with speeds of up to 300 kilometers per hour (186 mph). The line, which is Germany's fastest, is considered a national prestige project and a crucial link in the European Union's high-speed rail network."

As of today limited service is back with those trains checked at the workshops with ultra sound.

To elaborate, this is my translation of the update from Deutsche Bahn as of Monday:

Inspection of the ICE 3 fleet without faults

By Monday morning German Railways will have inspected and returned to service over half of its ICE 3 fleet. In the course of additional technical inspections there have so far been no indications of safety deficiencies with the vehicles. Therefore already on Sunday the traffic on more than 80 percent of the affected ICE 3 routes could be assured.

For Monday an extensive normalization of operational status is expected. On nearly all ICE 3 routes services have been reestablished. Through the deployment of shortened trains it is still possible that reductions in comfort and seating capacity will occur. Long distance traffic has been overall about 15 percent affected, primarily on the connections in the western and southern parts of Germany. In the north and east there has hardly been any hindrance.


Original text:
Überprüfung der ICE 3-Flotte ohne Beanstandungen

Die Deutsche Bahn wird am Montagmorgen mehr als die Hälfte ihrer ICE 3-Flotte überprüft haben und wieder in Betrieb nehmen. Im Rahmen der zusätzlichen technischen Übersuchungen wurden bislang keine Sicherheitsmängel an den Fahrzeugen festgestellt. Damit konnte bereits am Sonntag auf mehr als 80 Prozent der betroffenen ICE 3-Strecken der Verkehr sichergestellt werden.

Für Montag wird eine weitgehende Normalisierung der betrieblichen Lage erwartet. Auf nahezu allen ICE 3-Strecken ist dann der Verkehr wieder sichergestellt. Durch den Einsatz verkürzter Züge kann es weiterhin zu Einschränkungen bei Komfort und Platzkapazitäten kommen. Der Fernverkehr war insgesamt zu rund 15 Prozent betroffen, vor allem die Verbindungen im Westen und Süden Deutschlands. Im Norden und Osten gab es kaum Behinderungen.

I have ridden to ICE-3 a few times between Frankfurt and Nürnberg, wonderful equipment, hopefully all will be back in service shortly.

Adam