First electric train from Zürich to München didn't go as planned

[JonasB]

Today was the first day with electric trains all the way from Zürich to Munich. But it didn't go according to plan, the first train had only made it as far as Hergatz where it was sent to an unelectrified track.

Short newsclip about the incident: (In German)

 

[JonathanP]

As explanation:
There are 2 possible routes between Hergatz and Munich. The straighter, faster one has been electrified, as a result for the past year all the EuroCity trains used the slower route. So possibly the signalman at Hergatz had almost an automatic reflex to route express trains on to the unelectrified line.

 

[Jamesrob637]

Do they not have an overrun? At Lostock near Bolton for example, where they filmed Lostock and Two Smoking Barrels (I'll grab my coat) there is half a mile's wiring on the Wigan line, although said line is due for electrification soon. Similarly at Kirkham and Wesham on the Blackpool South line, which is less of a priority for electrification.

 

[Richard Scott]

Do they not have an overrun? At Lostock near Bolton for example, where they filmed Lostock and Two Smoking Barrels (I'll grab my coat) there is half a mile's wiring on the Wigan line, although said line is due for electrification soon. Similarly at Kirkham and Wesham on the Blackpool South line, which is less of a priority for electrification.

Noticed often on continent there is almost no overrun and often nothing at all on non electrified route so probably not.

 

[30907]

Noticed often on continent there is almost no overrun and often nothing at all on non electrified route so probably not.

Looking online the crossover to take the electrified route is well short of the station, so a normal overrun might not have been long enough.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

As explanation:
There are 2 possible routes between Hergatz and Munich. The straighter, faster one has been electrified, as a result for the past year all the EuroCity trains used the slower route. So possibly the signalman at Hergatz had almost an automatic reflex to route express trains on to the unelectrified line.

What's odd is that the route change at Hergatz was the whole point of the DB mega-plan for electrification and service upgrade.
It would be one of those "You only have one job" situations on the day!
In UK terms it's as though the signaller at Haymarket (Edinburgh) routed the first ever electric train to Glasgow Central (via Carstairs) on the diesel E&G route.

 

[Re 4/4]

There's some comments in the Swiss railforum about whether the driver should have noticed in advance that the road was set wrong, as the distant signal displayed an 80 km/h speed restriction. I'm skeptical - Germany uses speed signalling, not route signalling so I'm not sure it's on the driver. I imagine if it had happened at Haymarket, the driver would have been expected to notice the feather (or lack thereof, not sure).

Via twitter, here's the sad looking remains of the pantograph - click on the image and it shows you a reply on the side with the rest of it lying in the snow.

 

[Jamesrob637]

Unfähigkeit - that's an important word here on that Twitter feed. Bit like Inkompetenz.

 

[duesselmartin]

Unfähigkeit - that's an important word here on that Twitter feed. Bit like Inkompetenz.

just Murphy's law. Tough luck. Not that significant in Covid days.
What I see as critical that much of the "new" route is single track.

Martin

 

[Austriantrain]

What I see as critical that much of the "new" route is single track.

Switzerland and (a bit less so) Austria manage perfectly well with relatively dense timetables on single-track lines with solid on-time performance so let’s hope that DB at some point will be able to do so as well. It’s not rocket science.

While I do realize that DB‘s task is in general more difficult- obviously, having a train run all the way from Hamburg to Munich via several densely used rail hubs on-time is more difficult than, say, Geneva to Zurich - the Munich - Lindau line doesn’t suffer from this problem.

 

[Richard Scott]

Switzerland and (a bit less so) Austria manage perfectly well with relatively dense timetables on single-track lines with solid on-time performance so let’s hope that DB at some point will be able to do so as well. It’s not rocket science.

While I do realize that DB‘s task is in general more difficult- obviously, having a train run all the way from Hamburg to Munich via several densely used rail hubs on-time is more difficult than, say, Geneva to Zurich - the Munich - Lindau line doesn’t suffer from this problem.

Obviously you've not suffered the consequences when it does go wrong? Had a day ruined in Switzerland by one train being 10minutes late then it was one missed connection after another. Not good.

 

[Austriantrain]

Obviously you've not suffered the consequences when it does go wrong? Had a day ruined in Switzerland by one train being 10minutes late then it was one missed connection after another. Not good.

Of course I have, often enough.

Delays happen - in every country, and they happen on single, double oder four track railways.

Still on-time performance in Switzerland is much better than most. And thanks to their dense Takt, even in a case of missed connection you will have to wait far shorter
for the next train than in most other places.

Apart from that: what would you do? Double every single-track line? Would you pay for it? If not, should the line close rather than having a decent service with occasional delays? I don’t really understand you point.

 

[Richard Scott]

Of course I have, often enough.

Delays happen - in every country, and they happen on single, double oder four track railways.

Still on-time performance in Switzerland is much better than most. And thanks to their dense Takt, even in a case of missed connection you will have to wait far shorter
for the next train than in most other places.

Apart from that: what would you do? Double every single-track line? Would you pay for it? If not, should the line close rather than having a decent service with occasional delays? I don’t really understand you point.

My point is when it goes wrong delays are quite large. For a 10 minute late train we arrived at our destination two hours late. You said they have solid performance on single track routes, maybe most of the time but it has potential for huge delays when it goes wrong. Wasn't saying who was paying for it just making a point that single line does have its negative points. Have suffered severe delays in many countries due to it, whilst UK may not the the best at least relative large amount of double track limits delays when they do occur.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

just Murphy's law. Tough luck. Not that significant in Covid days.
What I see as critical that much of the "new" route is single track.

Martin

I think I read that the single track route north of Hergatz has been upgraded and doubled in parts (there's a new viaduct somewhere).

 

[Austriantrain]

My point is when it goes wrong delays are quite large. For a 10 minute late train we arrived at our destination two hours late. You said they have solid performance on single track routes, maybe most of the time but it has potential for huge delays when it goes wrong. Wasn't saying who was paying for it just making a point that single line does have its negative points. Have suffered severe delays in many countries due to it, whilst UK may not the the best at least relative large amount of double track limits delays when they do occur.

Of course a double-track is more reliable than single-track, it is simply not achievable or cost-effective everywhere.

My point wasn’t that on a single-track line everything will always go according to plan, only that if well done, it is quite feasible to run a decent and punctual service most of the time.

If Buchloe - Hergatz would have had to be doubled in addition to being electrified, it probably never would have happened at all. Achieving electrification was difficult enough; now it is up to DB to prove that they can run a good service.