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Bahn runs on thin ICE as Siemens delays trains

Published: 24 Nov 12 08:53 CET | Print version
Updated: 24 Nov 12 07:05 CET
Online: http://www.thelocal.de/national/20121124-46353.html

Long-distance rail passengers should expect cancellations and delays in icy conditions this winter, warned Deutsche Bahn on Friday, as Siemens again postponed a delivery of new high-speed trains worth €500 million.

Deutsche Bahn was "very annoyed and disappointed" with Siemens, a spokesman said, as he admitted 16 new ICE 3 trains - which have been on order for over a year - would not be ready for the winter as promised, the Tagesspiegel newspaper reported on Friday.

The state-owned rail company warned travellers they would face cancellations and delays without the trains, needed to beef up the reserve fleet, vital for when ice or snow threaten the smooth running of long-distance rail service.

"Our customers feel as if they've been left in the lurch by Siemens," Berthold Huber, head of Deutsche Bahn's long distance travel department told the paper, adding that the rail company desperately needed the trains.

Deutsche Bahn has been waiting for the additional Velaro D ICE series 3 - needed to form a winter reserve for the current fleet of 253 trains - since December 2011, when the first machines had been due to arrive.

This winter may now see a repeat of the frequent delays and cancellations to the ICE service two years ago as a result of extreme cold and heavy snowfall, wrote the paper.

"We're really, really sorry," a Siemens spokesman told the paper, after explaining that software problems were responsible for the latest in a string of delays.

Siemens did not give a new delivery date, but said that the software problems would take time to iron out. "It won't be days or weeks," Siemens Chief Technology Officer Volker Kefer told the paper.

The Local/jlb

What do you think? Leave your comment below.


Your comments about this article:

09:18 November 24, 2012 by raandy
airports, trains what next?
14:03 November 24, 2012 by chicagolive
The only thing that ever comes on time in Germany is the bill or the tax man.
19:45 November 24, 2012 by Englishted
@ raandy

Is "trains, planes, and automobiles " the film you are looking for ?.
11:04 November 26, 2012 by raandy
Englishted sounds more like a song but ya I'll rise to the bait, where do I sign.
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