CitySprinter
The City Sprinter is a high floor - rail vehicle which by Siemens Transportation Systems in cooperation with the Cologne transporting enterprises was developed (KVB). The modular vehicle concept - related to the Combino in the low-floor area - was designed as a replacement for the light rail car B , as the first decommissioning was expected there.
The first prototype was handed over to the KVB on June 11, 1999 and was in passenger service from the following day with the road number 5001 .
On August 23, 1999, a serious malfunction occurred. The electronic vehicle control failed while driving. Because of the emergency brake override, the emergency brake in the passenger compartment, which a technician had pulled, did not work either. The driver tried to stop the train, but did not press the emergency stop button, which would have stopped the train with the spring brake . Finally he crashed into a stationary train at around 50 km / h. Eight people, including the driver of the train, were seriously injured and numerous others were slightly injured.
The following day the vehicle was returned to Siemens, a second prototype was no longer accepted. The KVB subsequently procured 59 Bombardier Flexity Swifts in a high-floor version (K5000), which were derived from the K4000 low-floor light rail vehicles already in service in Cologne .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Report Citysprinter crashed . In: Eisenbahn-Revue International , issue 10, year 1999, ISSN 1421-2811 , p. 394 f.