Problem located on fast trains, will return to service next week

Source: Associated Press Publication date: Mar 04, 2000

BERLIN (AP) -- A faulty relief valve caused one of Germany's most advanced high-speed trains to derail, and officials said Saturday the problem will be fixed so the trains can go back in service this week.

The derailment of the empty train traveling at a low speed through Berlin resulted in no injuries, but had prompted Deutsche Bahn to take all 11 of its IntercityExpress-T trains out of service while investigating the cause.

The problem will be repaired on all ICE-T trains and they should be back in service by the middle of the week, said Deutsche Bahn spokesman Martin Katz.

The ICE-T is the latest generation of Germany's IntercityExpress high-speed trains, using new technology to keep it stable at high speeds while rounding curves. It is in service on the Berlin-Munich, Berlin-Duesseldorf and Stuttgart-Zurich, Switzerland, routes.

In June 1998, an earlier-model IntercityExpress derailed and hit a bridge at 200 kilometers an hour (125 mph), killing 101 people in postwar Germany's deadliest train accident. Investigators blamed a broken wheel. (bh)

Publication date: Mar 04, 2000 ) 2000, NewsReal, Inc.

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