Austria: Burning ghost train raced towards Salzburg
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AustriaBurning ghost train races towards Salzburg
A blessing in disguise: the ghost run of a burning, driverless locomotive only ended 180 meters from the border with Salzburg.
That’s what it’s about
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Salzburg narrowly avoided a catastrophe today.
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A burning construction train raced toward the Austrian city without a driver.
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However, she was able to be stopped early enough by skillfully setting the course.
When the ÖBB announced at 6:30 a.m. that no train service was currently possible between Salzburg and Freilassing, this was primarily annoying for many commuters and travelers. After all, the west route also runs here, the Tyrol and Vorarlberg connects with the rest of Austria, as Heute.at writes. The reason is “a technical fault in a neighboring country”. The reports from the fire brigades that followed a little later should show just how close a catastrophe was.
The volunteer fire brigade in Freilassing writes on Facebook that there was an alarm about a burning locomotive shortly before three in the morning. Shortly after the arrival of the first emergency services, the burning, unoccupied locomotive set itself in motion in the direction of Freilassing. The firefighters should have immediately started “chasing” the ghost train.
Misfortune prevented by setting the course
The already arrived emergency manager the Deutsche Bahn reacted immediately and sent an internal message that an uncontrolled rail vehicle was heading towards Freilassing station. Stopping a burning, driverless railway construction machine speeding towards Salzburg is extremely difficult.
Fortunately, it could be diverted to a siding at Freilassing station, which is also operated by ÖBB, thanks to a clever switch setting. There the locomotive crashed into a buffer stop. Luckily there were no injuries to report. The property damage is enormous, experts estimate it at eight to nine million euros.
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