Suche
Mein Konto
Train defect near Loosdorf: 160 passengers rescued in night evacuation!
A train on the Western Railway line in Loosdorf was evacuated due to a technical defect. 160 people remained uninjured.
Train defect near Loosdorf: 160 passengers rescued in night evacuation!
On Tuesday night, a technical defect caused a train to stop on the Western Railway line in Loosdorf in the Melk district. Around 160 passengers were on board the Railjet and had to be evacuated by the fire department. Luckily there were no injuries. The incident occurred on Monday around 11 p.m. and the evacuation of passengers was completed at 1:40 a.m. on Tuesday, according to ÖBB. The travelers were then transported by bus to St. Pölten and Vienna-Meidling. A few hours later, the broken down rail vehicle was transported away with the help of an emergency train. The circumstances of this incident raise questions about rail safety and reliability, particularly in light of recent events.
The Western Railway line had recently undergone extensive renovation after it was out of service for three months due to the devastating effects of a once-in-a-century flood in autumn 2022. This flood caused massive damage to the tracks and required extensive construction work to make the route safe to use again. ÖBB confirmed that trains can now run at speeds of up to 230 km/h again. The first Cityjet Express left Vienna's Westbahnhof train station early this morning at 4:48 a.m., marking a return to normality on the crucial rail link between St. Pölten and Vienna.
Successful renovation and security measures
As part of the renovation work on the Western Railway line, numerous measures were implemented to increase safety and reliability. Critical infrastructure elements such as 2,000 junction boxes were positioned higher to protect them from future flood events. In addition, mobile flood protection devices were installed in the Lainzer Tunnel and the platforms in Tullnerfeld were extended to around 420 meters. These measures are part of a larger approach to sustainably improve safety in rail transport, which is also essential given the technical difficulties already mentioned.
The continuous safety measures and the associated costs are directly related to the high demands in rail transport. In Europe, rail transport has a high level of safety compared to other modes of transport. Between 2012 and 2021, there were only 0.08 rail fatalities per 1 billion passenger kilometers in the EU. Nevertheless, safety remains a central issue, especially after catastrophic accidents, which continue to come up in conversation.
Experts report that the likelihood of a rail accident is relatively low, but rail accidents can also cause significant damage, such as the Eschede accident in 1998, which claimed 101 lives. The need for comprehensive safety investments and continuous improvements therefore remains to maintain rail transport as one of the safest forms of transport in Europe.