The accident happened on a 20-mile test track in northwestern Germany. More than 30 people were on board, including 23 visitors to the facility, which regularly offers rides.

As the monorail Transrapid train began to accelerate, the passengers would have been able to see the stationary maintenance vehicle coming ever closer through the panoramic front windows. It was the first crash to take place on the track, which is in the Emsland district near the Dutch border, and is a severe blow to Germany’s world-leading magnetic rail technology. Ten people were injured.

“The maintenance car runs along the track each morning and the train doesn’t depart until the car has gone. Why that didn’t happen today I don’t yet know,” said Manfred Manke, of the prosecutors’ office in Osnabrück. The maintenance car had two people on board.

IABG, the train operator, said that it was deeply upset by the accident. “At this time, the accident was not caused by technical failure. It is the result of human error,” Rudolf Schwarz, the managing director of IABG, said.

Rescue workers struggled to free more bodies from the wreckage last night, but the raised track, which is 4m (13ft) above ground, made the job difficult. They had to use cranes, helicopters and fire ladders to reach the train. Angela Merkel, the Chancellor, visited the site to offer her support.

The train is propelled at high speeds by a frictionless electromagnetic system. It was developed by Transrapid International, a joint venture between Siemens AG and ThyssenKrupp, shares in which dipped after the news.

Travelling at up to 270mph, the “maglev” Transrapid in Germany floats on a magnetic cushion 1cm (1⁄2in) above the track. It has no fuel source on board and its makers said that it could not derail.

German engineers have been testing the sleek white train since the late 1960s. Attempts to build a commercial maglev line in Germany have repeatedly been blocked by environmentalists and lack of finance. The city of Munich is considering using the technology in a link to its airport.

Despite numerous proposals for its use across the world, the only train of its kind in commercial use is as a shuttle from the centre of Shanghai, in China, to the city’s airport.

On August 11 a fire broke out in an electrical compartment of the Shanghai train, also built by Transrapid, as it headed towards the airport. The prototypes have logged hundreds of thousands of kilometres in trials on the track.

See also:

Experts examine human error as possible cause of German maglev train crash that killed 23

The Associated Press: September 23, 2006

LATHEN, Germany German investigators are seeking to find out why safety rules didn't prevent a high-speed magnetic train from powering up and rolling toward a maintenance vehicle still on the elevated test track. The resulting crash killed 23 people.

Alexander Retemeyer, a prosecutor speaking for investigators, said Saturday they were focussing on what happened in the 32-kilometer (20-mile) track's control center, where the required two employees were on duty.

"What we are looking into is why the train was given the go-ahead even though the maintenance vehicle was on the track," Ratemeyer said.

Friday's crash near Lathen in northwestern Germany was the first involving a train using magnetic levitation, or maglev, technology, in which the train rides on a magnetic field without touching rails. The lack of friction helps make possible speeds as high as 450 kilometers per hour (270 miles per hour).

The controllers, Ratemeyer said, were supposed to make sure the maintenance vehicle was off the track through several layers of checks. Only then were they to turn on the electricity enabling the train driver to start, he said.

Investigators examined the control room log book and discovered that the maintenance truck was where it was supposed to be.

It headed out at 8 a.m. (0600 GMT) and was logged at a spot called point 120 on the rack at 9:53 a.m. (0753 GMT) when the train started its high-speed run. Fifty-eight seconds later, the train hit the truck at 170 kilometers per hour (105 miles per hour.)

The controllers had several ways to determine whether the vehicle was on the track: the log book, a check of its shed, and a GPS satellite navigational device on the vehicle, which showed it as a green dot on one of the computer systems - but not the main security system showing the location of the train.

They were also supposed to get a radio call from other workers confirming that the vehicle was out of the way.

Further interviews will determine whether anyone had told it to return before the train came down the track, Retemeyer said. The two control center employees have not been interviewed because they were in shock and undergoing care, he said.

More information was expected from injured survivors: Two workers on the service wagon as well as a train driver and a technician on the train.

"At this point, we believe the main reason is that the maintenance vehicle was not integrated into the train security system," said Retemeyer. "Safety for the maintenance vehicle is the responsibility of people, and so far we have not been able to determine any individual suspects because only now do we know the timeline of what happened."

Video cameras would not have alerted the controllers, since the crash occurred in a gap between camera coverage, he said.

The maintenance car was hit by the low nose of the speeding train and was flung upwards, ripping open the top of the first car of the train and strewing mangled seats, shards of glass and twisted metal parts below the 4-meter (12-foot) high track.

Transport Minister Wolfgang Tiefensee promised a "swift but thorough investigation."

"The question that we have to ask will be, was the security concept sufficient and was it followed step by step," he told reporters at the scene. "And then when we know what the reasons were, we will be able to draw conclusions."

Among the dead were two young people who had completed an apprenticeship at company working on the maglev train and were taking the ride as a reward, officials said. Officials said others included workers for Transrapid International, the company that makes the train, and one person from IABG, which operates the track. Transrapid International, a joint company of Siemens AG and ThyssenKrupp AG.

The track is mainly used to show off maglev technology, but tourists are allowed to ride the train as well.

The technology has been around for years but has not caught on as conventional high-speed service has expanded. Shanghai, China, and Nagoya, Japan have commercially operating maglev trains.

Wu Xiangming, the head of China's maglev project, visited the crash site on Saturday, officials said.
All 23 of the dead had been positively identified, officials said.

Some of the 10 injured had already been able to leave the hospital and those remaining had injuries that were not life threatening, said local councilor Harmann Broering.
___
On the Net:
www.transrapid.de


See also:

German monorail test train kills 23 out of 29 passengers

BBC News: 22 September 2006

At least 23 people died according to latest reports when an elevated magnetic train crashed on a test track in north-western Germany.

Rescuers had to use ladders and cranes to reach the train
Train wreckage hanging from an elevated section of track Prosecutor Alexander Retemeyer said 15 bodies had been recovered from the wreckage. Another 10 people were injured, officials said.

The train, which floats on a monorail via a magnetic levitation system called maglev, was going at nearly 200km/h (120 mph) when it crashed near Lathen.

The driverless train hit a maintenance vehicle on the track, officials said.

Some carriages were left balancing on a section of track about 5m (16.5ft) in the air after the accident.

The train was carrying 29 people at the time.

Footage of a Maglev

The accident happened at about 1000 (0800 GMT).

The test track from Lathen to Doerpen is 31.8km (20 miles) long and tourists regularly go on trips along it.

The Transrapid system, run by Siemens, is capable of speeds of up to 450km/h (280mph).

Fire engines are now at the scene and ladders are being used to reach the damaged coaches. Some debris fell from the train to the ground.

The only commercial example of a Transrapid system in operation is the high-speed shuttle to China's Shanghai airport from the city centre.

It was developed by Transrapid International, a joint venture between Siemens AG and ThyssenKrupp.

German Transport Minister Wolfgang Tiefensee, who is in China, has cancelled his trip and is now on his way back to Germany.

In August, a fire broke out on a Transrapid train in Shanghai, adding to concerns about the safety of the technology.

The German companies are keen to make Transrapid an export hit and negotiations are under way about building another link in China, and also in Munich, the BBC's Tristana Moore reports from Berlin.

HOW MAGLEV TRAINS WORK


Opposite poles on magnets keep train above track
Train is propelled by electro-magnetic system in the sides of the "guideway" instead of onboard engine
Top speed (with passengers) - 450km/h (280mph)
Developed by Transrapid Int in Germany
Operating commercially in Shanghai
Test facility in Emsland, northern Germany, is longest of its kind at 31.5km (19.5 miles)

Source: Transrapid International

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FACTBOX-Transrapid -- one of world's fastest trains

Reuters: 22 Sep 2006

Following are some facts about the Transrapid high tech train that crashed on a test run in Germany on Friday:

- The Transrapid rides on magnetic levitation at speeds of up to 420 kph (260 mph) on its 32-km (20 mile) long test track in Emsland, a remote area of Germany near the Dutch border.

- It long held the record as the world's fastest train, hitting 450 kph in a 1993 test.

- Travelling at three times the speeds of conventional steel-wheel trains, the "mag-lev" Transrapid floats on a magnetic cushion one cm (half an inch) above a track that is elevated five to eight metres above the ground.

- The Transrapid uses a tongue-and-groove construction that keeps the 110-tonne vehicle from leaving the track. Powerful electromagnets in the bracket-shaped undercarriage wrap around the sides of the guideway and hold the train in place.

- The prototypes have logged hundreds of thousands of kilometres in trials on the track near Lathen. Because there are no wheels and no friction on the track, the train uses 33 percent less energy than Germany's high speed ICE trains.

- Hundreds of thousands of tourists have paid to take rides on the train since such service began in 1995.

- Attempts to build a commercial "mag-lev" line in Germany have repeatedly been blocked by environmentalists and other opponents, leaving projects on drawing boards.

- There are proposals to build a Transrapid from Munich's airport to the city centre and a decision is due in the fall. Another plan to link Hamburg and Berlin was scrapped.

- China was the first country in the world to get the high-speed train. It takes less than eight minutes to travel the 30 km between Shanghai and its airport at a top speed of 430 kph, making it the world's fastest commercial train.

- An experimental Japanese mag-lev train set the current speed record of 581 kph on a test track near Tokyo in 2003.

- On Aug 11, a fire broke out in an electrical compartment of the Shanghai mag-lev train as it headed towards the airport. It caused a lot of smoke but no one was injured.

- It has been developed over the years by Siemens and Thyssen . National airline Lufthansa and Deutsche Bahn have also worked on the project.

See also:

Many Feared Dead After Transrapid Train Crash in Germany

Deutsche Welle: 22.09.2006
 
An as yet unknown number of people have died and many were injured after a Transrapid high-speed train traveling a test route in Emsland crashed Friday morning.

As many as 19 people might have died in the accident

County officials in Emsland, where the test route is located, said Friday afternoon that 10 people had been rescued alive while one passenger was found dead. Another 19 are still missing.
 
"We have to brace for the possibility that we will not be able to rescue them alive," said Emsland County President Hermann Bröring.
 
Transport Minister Wolfgang Tiefensee has interrupted a trip in China to return to Germany.
 
At the time of the accident, up to 30 people were believed to be on board. Commercial passengers are only allowed on board the train four days a week.
 
According to reports, the magnetic-levitation train was moving at 200 kilometers (124 miles) per hour when it hit an object, possibly a repair train.
 
"The rescue operation is underway," said a police spokesperson, who added that recovering bodies is likely to be difficult as the tracks are located on a railway line some four meters above the ground.  
 
World's largest
 
Shanghai's Maglev is the world's only commercial magnetic-levitation train

The Transrapid route in Emsland, Lower Saxony, is the world's largest test track for magnetic-levitation trains. 31.8 kilometers long, it runs between Dörpen and Lathen close to the Dutch border.

The only existing commercial route is the 30-kilometer track in Shanghai linking the airport and the financial district. Traveling at a maximum of 430 kilometers per hour, it can cover the 30-kilometer distance in just eight minutes.
 
A 160-kilometer extension to Hangzhou is already in the pipeline.
 
The Transrapid was built by a Siemens and ThyssenKrupp consortium between 1980 and 1984. ThyseenKrupp just this week threatened to sell the technology to China should Germany not build its own Transrapid line in Munich in the near future.