The trains, not operated by Deutsche Bahn, are owned and run by the private rail company Meridian.
The trains were operating on a single line, which meant they passed one another at stations.
During the week there has been speculation that personnel switched off signalling on the line due to track work. That was part of the reason for the crash on Irish railways at Buttevant in the 1970s.
But such a procedure has now been denied by German investigators in respect to the crash at Bad Aibling.
All modern trains are fitted with devices, that should a train pass a signal, brakes are immediatley activated, as they are if the train travels too fast.
It is reported the trains were travelling at speeds of up to 100 km/h.
The system used by Irish Rail on the single line track between Mallow and Tralee involves axle counters at the beginning and end of each section. A device counts the number of axles that enters the system, which blocks the line for other trains until that same number of axles leave at the other end of the section.
Rail passengers using the Mallow Tralee service will have observed trains usually pass at Rathmore Station.
On the main double-line tracks, Dublin Belfast and Dublin Cork, the system uses a mix of automatic and manually operated signals. When a train enters a section it automatically causes the signal either to turn to red or orange, depending on whether it is a home or distant signal.
It so happens that the BND (Bundesnachrichtendienst) Germany's Intelligence Service operates the largest listening post outside of Britain and the US in Bad Aibling.
1 comment:
Axle counters sounds like an electronic version of the old staff system.
That system worked very well in its day.
Nostalgia
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