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German passengers hailed for stopping ‘horror’ runaway tram

German passengers were hailed for preventing a disaster at the weekend when they were able to bring a runaway tram to a halt after the driver lost consciousness.

German passengers hailed for stopping 'horror' runaway tram
he Line 66 tram in Bonn. Photo: DPA

Two male passengers broke down the door to the driver's cabin after the tram sped past eight stations without stopping in the western city of Bonn late Saturday night.

They found the driver unresponsive in his seat but managed to halt the tram thanks to instructions given to a female passenger who was on the phone throughout with local transport operator SWB.

“They did exactly the right thing in a dangerous situation and possibly saved lives,” mayor Ashok Sridharan told the General-Anzeiger daily.

“Something like this should not be allowed to happen,” he added.

The 47-year-old driver was taken to hospital but has since been released.

He remains on sick leave but no further details were given about his medical condition.

The General-Anzeiger said passengers on the “horror tram” were terrified even if everyone escaped unharmed.

“We were afraid for our lives, there was nothing we could do,” it quoted 61-year-old Manfred Daas, who was travelling with his wife, as saying.

The SWB transport company faced mounting criticism over the incident on Monday, and prosecutors are investigating whether all the technical fail-safes had worked properly.

The Line 66 tram did not stop even after passengers repeatedly pulled the emergency brake, but the SWB said the brake only alerts the driver who then decides whether or not to stop.

The “dead man's switch” in the driver's cabin, designed to cut the engine if the lever is no longer activated, also did not kick into action because the driver's weight likely kept it pressed down, SWB said.

But the tram would have eventually slowed to halt by itself because some passengers had activated the emergency unlocking system on the doors, Jörn Zauner of the SWB told General-Anzeiger.

It remains unclear how fast the tram was going, with Zauner estimating it was riding at a speed of 40 to 70 kilometres per hour.

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TRANSPORT

Copenhagen Metro lines reopen after two-week closure

Lines M3 and M4 of the Copenhagen Metro are back in service having reopened on Sunday, one day ahead of schedule.

Copenhagen Metro lines reopen after two-week closure

The two lines had been closed so that the Metro can run test operations before opening five new stations on the M4 line this summer.

The tests, which began on February 10th, are now done and the lines were running again as of Sunday evening, a day ahead of the original planned reopening on Monday February 26th.

“We are very pleased to be able to welcome our passengers on to our two lines M3 and M4,” head of operations with the Metro Søren Boysen said.

“The whole test procedure exceeded all expectations and went faster than expected and we can therefore get a head start on our reopening now,” he said.

Time set aside for potential repeat tests was not needed in the event, allowing the test closures to be completed ahead of time.

“Several of our many tests went better than expected and we have therefore not used all the time we needed for extra tests,” Boysen said.

The two lines serve around one million passengers every week, according to the Metro company.

READ ALSO: Copenhagen city government greenlights extension to Metro line

The new stops on the M4 line will be located south of central Copenhagen in the Valby and Sydhavn areas. The will have the names Haveholmen, Enghave Brygge, Sluseholmen, Mozarts Plads and København Syd (Copenhagen South).

The M3 and M4 lines, the newer sections of the Metro, opened in 2019 and 2020 respectively.

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