Salzburg firefighters begin training for new tunnel rescue train

Several dozen volunteer firefighters from Salzburg are undergoing specialised training to operate the new tunnel rescue train in the Gastein Valley, ORF reported. The service is intended to improve safety in the ÖBB Tauern tunnel.

Each crew will consist of two ÖBB employees who operate the train and 12 firefighters. They will be trained to rescue, recover, protect and extinguish fires during emergencies in the tunnel.

The train can evacuate more than 300 people and tow trains weighing up to 2,000 tonnes. It can also supply power to a defective train and operate without an overhead line. The vehicle will also be used for maintenance work during normal operations.

Training will take place in several stages. The first will be held at the Salzburg State Fire Brigade School, followed by a second phase at the tunnel training centre on the Erzberg. The final phase will take place at the tunnel with the vehicle after it has been delivered.

Five teams, including a reserve team, will be ready around the clock. The three fire brigades in the Gastein Valley will jointly staff the rescue train, according to Günther Trinker, Salzburg’s state fire brigade commander and head of the state fire brigade school.

“The training for these trains is already under way, because our teams must be properly trained as soon as the trains are delivered,” Trinker said.

ÖBB has ordered 18 tunnel rescue service trains at a cost of 230 million euros. Each can bring up to 324 people to safety, replacing the diesel-powered rescue trains used until now.

The new vehicles have electric hybrid drives, firefighting equipment, a water tank, six water cannons and four jet fans. Mobile containers holding hoses, breathing apparatus for 18 emergency responders, thermal imaging cameras and hydraulic rescue cutters can be loaded quickly at the base, reducing departure times.