Wrong-place stop triggered Munich S-Bahn short circuit

According to BR, a Munich S-Bahn train stopping in the wrong place caused a short circuit in an overhead line on Tuesday, disrupting services on the city’s central trunk route during the morning rush hour.

A Deutsche Bahn spokesperson said an S8 train had “unplannedly come to a stop exactly in a separation zone between two overhead-line sections.” The electrically sensitive area then suffered a short circuit, damaging the overhead-line system.

“It is extremely rare for a train to stop in such a separation zone,” the spokesperson said. There are several such sections on the network, but trains normally pass through them. A chain of circumstances ultimately led to the short circuit.

DB InfraGO, Deutsche Bahn’s infrastructure subsidiary, will investigate Tuesday morning’s incident with Munich S-Bahn and examine how similar incidents at critical points can be prevented in future, the spokesperson said.

The damage caused major problems for passengers at the start of the new school year in Bavaria. No S-Bahn trains ran on the heavily used central trunk route for a time during the morning commute. During the afternoon rush hour, only a few lines were operating as scheduled.

Several trains stopped in the section without power. Passengers had to leave the trains, which were then towed away.

Bavaria’s Transport Minister Christian Bernreiter criticised the disruption. “The railway is presenting a disgraceful picture,” the CSU politician said. The state of the S-Bahn system was “no longer acceptable,” he added.

Munich’s central trunk route is one of Europe’s busiest rail lines and is vulnerable to disruptions. Problems there affect large parts of the S-Bahn network around Germany’s commuter capital.