AP: German magnetic train derails, killing 1

[Eugene]

Posted on Fri, Sep. 22, 2006

German magnetic train derails, killing 1
Associated Press

BERLIN - A high-speed magnetic train ran off the track during a test Friday
in western Germany, killing one person and injuring several more. The accident
left the Transrapid magnetic train "hanging halfway off" the track and passengers
were still inside, said Helge Nestler, a police spokesman in Osnabrueck.

The accident happened in the nearby town of Lathen.

Nestler gave the number of injured as 25, while another regional police department
said 21 people were hurt.

Magnetic-levitation trains use electrically charged magnets to cause the trains
to hover just above the tracks, allowing them to glide along without friction.
Trains can reach 270 mph on the 20-mile test track.

-snip-

Full article: http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/breaking_news/15581822.htm

Update: Magnetic train crashes in Germany - BBC
"There are some fatalities - we don't know how many yet"

[Norrin Radd]

1. They should put it within a pipe or tube of some sort. n/t

[Eurobabe]

2. Talk of running one of these from city of Munich to airport

I think I'll stick with the S-bahn, thank you.

[TommyO]

3. A little more information

http://www.euro2day.gr/articlesfna/21190850/

The technology is inherently safe as the train wraps around the guideway, this wasn't a result of a failure of the vehicle or track, but will probably be traced to human failure.

[skids]

4. Oh I see. It hit something.

Just a small detail left out of the reporting there. :eyes:

[TommyO]

5. At first I thought it might have been

massive structural failure of the train or guideway (I have an interest in maglev tech, it's "neato" and would be a great replacement for short to medium haul air routes here in the US), but a quick Google search came up with a few more details.

[freethought]

13. Yeah, someone left a maintenance vehicle on the track

and the train had a direct collision.
I agree with your opinion that this technology could be great. It will be years before it meets with widespread use. However, leaving the vehicle on the track was a lesson in carelessness. And 23 people paid for it.

[Gormy Cuss]

8. Very weird, that.

From the headline and opening paragraphs the report is setting the reader up to expect that it was something about the maglev technology rather than an old fashioned "something on the tracks to hit" problem.

[kysrsoze]

10. You would think they would have engineered a safety mechanism

to tell that there's a damned car in the way.

[Gormy Cuss]

11. Perhaps, but such technology now is based on external sensors

providing feedback. One would think that train based sensors would be a good improvement.

It is a test track and as other posters have mentioned, the error may have been neglecting to include the normal signal systems on the test track.

On edit: the other issue is sufficient advance warning (one of the reason track based sensors are used is that a train can be alerted long before a visual notification.) At 120 MPH it would require a considerable distance to brake safely.

[mare]

6. German media is now reporting

up to 19 deaths. 1 body was found, 18 people are still missing but they think they probably won't be found alive.

[AndyTiedye]

7. At Least The Germans Are Building High-Speed Trains

The train hit a maintenance vehicle. Because it's a test track,
it probably doesn't have all the signalling that regular railroads do yet.
They will have to work on that.

The deaths are unfortunate, but I suspect German railroads are still a lot
safer than ours, and certainly more so than the highways in either country.

[CBGLuthier]

9. Death toll now at 23

Found more bodies.

[truthisfreedom]

12. engineering wagon left on the track... wow, how tragic. what a totally

heartbreaking mistake.