Panne ride with Deutsche Bahn: Passengers have been stuck for hours

Panne ride with Deutsche Bahn: Passengers have been stuck for hours

In the late Saturday afternoon, around 450 passengers were stuck in the ICE from Berlin to Munich when the train took an “unscheduled hold” between Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia due to a technical defect. The passengers had to endure for hours because the train suddenly stopped after passing the Finnet tunnel near Eßleben in the Sömmerda district. The situation on board tightened when the emergency current failed and ventilation and air conditioning no longer worked, which led to circulatory problems for some passengers.

fire brigades were consulted to organize the evacuation of the stranded passengers, with medical support also required. A ambulance and an emergency doctor had to intervene, and two passengers had to be taken to the hospital due to their poor health. The evacuation progressed with the support of fire brigade units from neighboring regions, which means that the passengers could be brought to safety.

After waiting for hours, a replacement act arrived that finally allowed passengers to continue their journey. The defective train was towed and the replacement train was able to continue towards Erfurt around 10 p.m. During the rescue and recovery measures, the ICE route between Berlin and Munich had to be closed for about four and a half hours, which led to disabilities. Unfortunately, this is not the first incident of this kind, since Deutsche Bahn has to deal with around 230 technical disorders every day and fell 40,000 trips in 2022.