Germany - rail services, ticketing and incidents (merged posts)

[whole diary]

[stuving]

But basically it's just another step in a long development and proving process for hydrogen trains, and an encouraging one on the whole.

...on the other hand, Baden-Württemberg have just decided not to go down the hydrogen route at all - from International Rail Journal

Baden-Württemberg rejects hydrogen as diesel alternative 
A study examined ways to replace diesel traction on the state network.

Baden-Württemberg will use battery traction over hydrogen on non-electrified lines.
Photo Credit: Baden-Württemberg

THE German state of Baden-Württemberg has published a study into possible alternatives to diesel traction on its rail network, and says it will no longer consider hydrogen traction.

The study, conducted by a consortium including Transport Technology Consult Karlsruhe (TTK) and Komobile, examined 16 non-electrified routes, and compared electrification with the introduction of battery or hydrogen traction...

The ministry says that following the analysis, “operation with hydrogen hybrid trains will not be considered further in the near future due to various operational and economic reasons.” It says that in a direct comparison, hydrogen technology could not match battery traction or electrification on any of the routes considered by the study.

They are proposing a mix of electrification and battery EMUs^▸ (Electric Multiple Unit) instead.

[broadgage]

Hydrogen power undoubtedly works to an extent, but is inherently expensive, complicated, and somewhat dangerous.
OTOH^▸ ('on the other hand'), electric trains are an established technology, and batteries are still improving.

The future is in my view electrification wherever practical, with battery power being used when restricted clearances or extreme conditions make OHLE impractical.

Producing hydrogen is easy, but storage is expensive, as is compressing or liquefying the gas.

[TonyK]

Hydrogen power undoubtedly works to an extent, but is inherently expensive, complicated, and somewhat dangerous.
OTOH^▸ ('on the other hand'), electric trains are an established technology, and batteries are still improving.

The future is in my view electrification wherever practical, with battery power being used when restricted clearances or extreme conditions make OHLE impractical.

Producing hydrogen is easy, but storage is expensive, as is compressing or liquefying the gas.

Nail hit squarely on the head. NASA's travails with its Artemis spacecraft show that even rocket scientists struggle with hydrogen. I have seen something in one of the tech websites lately about using salts to store hydrogen. The article says the salts yield the hydrogen easily, and it can be effectively replaced for reuse. Whether this is serious or just the desperate withdrawal symptoms of the subsidy junkie is a matter beyond my limited scientific competence. If it is serious, it sounds so basic that one might think it had cropped up as an idea before, but it could be bad news for bakers if sodium bicarbonate suddenly gets popular as a fuel for trains. There remains the question of how the hydrogen is made and transported for use, of course.

[eightonedee]

There's a rather rambling piece on hydrogen storage system developments, that looks superficially to be about rail transport but actually looks at the wider picture on the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) News website, Business section - see https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-62619313

It is difficult to work out from this how close we might be to a breakthrough in low pressure storage, but at least it looks like quite a few groups are working on it.

[Bmblbzzz]

Over the sea in Canada, and 75 years ago, they were already predicting the demise of the newly adopted diesel locomotives – but not electrification, let alone hydrogen...
https://youtu.be/6_RE2Ku4eCU?t=909

 

[eightonedee]

I have just caught this You Tube video from Sabine Hossenfelder, whose channel I have recently discovered. She is a German scientist with a mission to explain science clearly to those of us with arts or humanities backgrounds and others.  As you will see, she does not share some of her compatriots' enthusiasm for hydrogen, indeed on close analysis there seems little to gain from most methods of hydrogen fuel production in terms of carbon reduction

See - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zklo4Z1SqkE.

[TonyK]

I have just caught this You Tube video from Sabine Hossenfelder, whose channel I have recently discovered. She is a German scientist with a mission to explain science clearly to those of us with arts or humanities backgrounds and others.  As you will see, she does not share some of her compatriots' enthusiasm for hydrogen, indeed on close analysis there seems little to gain from most methods of hydrogen fuel production in terms of carbon reduction

See - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zklo4Z1SqkE.

That's what happens when you ask a scientist, with their analytical approaches, laws of physics and other inconvenient stuff.

Interesting. It does rather confirm the theory that hydrogen is a clever but expensive way of making a lot of electricity into a lot less electricity.

[paul7575]

That's what happens when you ask a scientist, with their analytical approaches, laws of physics and other inconvenient stuff.

Interesting. It does rather confirm the theory that hydrogen is a clever but expensive way of making a lot of electricity into a lot less electricity.

We should probably just think of it as being like an amplifier but connected backwards… 

Paul

[infoman]

between Hamburg and Kiel,
The suspect, aged between 20 and 30, was taken into custody at the railway station in the town of Brokstedt and had sustained injuries.

[stuving]

It's reported in Railway Gazette that an interim report (published on June 1 by the Federal Bureau for Investigation of Railway Accidents) has confirmed those sleepers as causing the accident:

‘The prestressed concrete sleepers laid at the site [of the derailment] showed signs of damage indicating a loss of tension within the sleeper. This led to a failure of the structure and to the breaking away of the rail support in the direction of the initiated forces’, the interim report concluded.

On the previous day DB^» (Deutsche Bahn - German State Railway - about) had issued a statement noting that further investigations into the accident remained in progress and that a definitive cause had yet to be determined.

In addition to the inquiries in progress by the Federal Bureau for Investigation of Railway Accidents and the public prosecutor’s office, DB has commissioned an independent internal investigation from a law firm. This is intended to determine whether the accident is related to ‘possible internal failures’.

DB said that under its programme of preventive sleeper replacement following the accident, as many as 480 000 sleepers were being replaced this year. This compares with around 80 000 in a normal year. The replacement work followed an urgent inspection of sites across the network where identical sleepers had been laid.

The programme meant that 400 worksites were in place across the network, leading to inevitable delays for passengers and freight customers. Sleeper replacement work would continue ‘at least into next year’, DB warned.

I guess, given the mention of a law firm, that those "internal failures" are human or organisational ones in the procurement area, rather than structural ones inside the sleepers.

[Electric train]

It's reported in Railway Gazette that an interim report (published on June 1 by the Federal Bureau for Investigation of Railway Accidents) has confirmed those sleepers as causing the accident:

‘The prestressed concrete sleepers laid at the site [of the derailment] showed signs of damage indicating a loss of tension within the sleeper. This led to a failure of the structure and to the breaking away of the rail support in the direction of the initiated forces’, the interim report concluded.

On the previous day DB^» (Deutsche Bahn - German State Railway - about) had issued a statement noting that further investigations into the accident remained in progress and that a definitive cause had yet to be determined.

In addition to the inquiries in progress by the Federal Bureau for Investigation of Railway Accidents and the public prosecutor’s office, DB has commissioned an independent internal investigation from a law firm. This is intended to determine whether the accident is related to ‘possible internal failures’.

DB said that under its programme of preventive sleeper replacement following the accident, as many as 480 000 sleepers were being replaced this year. This compares with around 80 000 in a normal year. The replacement work followed an urgent inspection of sites across the network where identical sleepers had been laid.

The programme meant that 400 worksites were in place across the network, leading to inevitable delays for passengers and freight customers. Sleeper replacement work would continue ‘at least into next year’, DB warned.

I guess, given the mention of a law firm, that those "internal failures" are human or organisational ones in the procurement area, rather than structural ones inside the sleepers.

Looks like there are concerns in the procurement and or quality control process

[grahame]

From Railfreight.com

DB^» (Deutsche Bahn - German State Railway - about) Cargo appears to be on track to laying off or reemploying thousands of employees as part of its economic rehabilitation programme. Its mother company, DB, aims to reduce its subsidiary’s workforce by 1,800 employees either by letting them go or by repositioning them in other posts within the DB Group. A study commissioned by the company and reported by the German newspaper DVZ and employee complaints seem to confirm the intention.

Sharing on the "Coffee Shop" as a story of another nation's rail system being restructured with stemming losses being a key element to the story - see the link above.

[IndustryInsider]

And the situation in Germany has other similarities with us too:

https://amp.theguardian.com/business/2023/oct/14/its-the-same-daily-misery-germanys-terrible-trains-are-no-joke-for-a-nation-built-on-efficiency

[CyclingSid]

From BR24, via European Perspective https://www.rte.ie/news/ [Can somebody work out get a direct link, to save a lot of text]

Why disused railroad lines are rarely revived

In recent decades, the German rail network has shrunk. In many places, rail traffic was discontinued for economic reasons and lines were closed. From today's perspective, a mistake, say experts. In order to achieve the climate protection targets in the transport sector, more passenger and freight traffic must be shifted to rail in the coming years. In addition to the rehabilitation and expansion of existing rail lines, many decommissioned lines are also to be put back into service. The government coalition has even written this into its coalition agreement.
Experts see great potential
For the industry association "Allianz pro Schiene", there is great potential in this. According to the expert report, at least 1,300 kilometers of rail track could be reconnected to the rail network in this way, says Dirk Flege, managing director of the association. He estimates this figure to be even higher and speaks of 4,500 kilometers that could be reactivated.
Only eight kilometers of track put back into operation
The general conditions for bringing decommissioned lines back into service would be good. For example, the federal government funds such projects through the Municipal Transportation Financing Act at 90 percent of the cost. In the federal states, this has arrived. They know that reactivating old rail lines can connect millions of people to the rail network. "The number of commissioned feasibility studies is growing practically every day," informs Martin Henke of the Association of German Transport Companies. Positive results are available for just under 80 of around 100 routes investigated nationwide. So putting such a line back into service would be worthwhile.
Nevertheless, little happens in practice. Last year, only eight kilometers of railroad line were reactivated. "This year, it will also be in single digits," predicts Dirk Flege of the "Pro-Rail Alliance."
Who will cover the cost of running the train?
The reason: although funding for the construction work is secured through the Municipal Transport Financing Act, it is often not clear who will bear the costs for train operations on the reactivated lines, says Dirk Flege. It calls on the federal and state governments to provide more funding for train operations. Flege: "What is needed here is a federal subsidy program" that provides the states with financial support for train operations on the reactivated lines. The federal and state governments will have to find a way "to create reliable financing conditions for ten or 15 years. Operators and passengers must be able to rely on the fact that train services on such routes are secured in the long term, says the head of the industry association.
Freight traffic should also benefit
In addition to passenger transport, there must also be a greater focus on freight transport. For this area, many lines could also be reconnected to the rail network. The need is likely to be great because, according to a forecast by the Federal Ministry of Transport, freight traffic will increase sharply in the coming years.
Restart can take up to ten years
But even if the federal and state governments pull the lever, put more money in their hands and quickly reactivate disused lines, it will probably be years before the lines can actually be used. In "simple cases," it is likely to be one to two years before a line is back in service. Where the rails have been removed and major construction is required, it may take five to ten years.
Particularly high hurdles in Bavaria
In Bavaria, the Pro-Rail Alliance believes that the hurdles to reviving disused rail lines are particularly high. Only if at least 1,000 passengers per working day are to be expected, a reactivation is considered at all, reports association managing director Dirk Flege. Such a high demand limit does not exist in other states. Flege: "Bavaria is still stuck in the past. According to the motto, everything has to pay off."
In view of the climate crisis, people's changed mobility behavior and the challenge of how rural areas can be better connected to neighboring cities, the Bavarian approach is no longer up to date. The Ministry of Transport in Bavaria sees things differently and wants to stick to the current regulation. If demand is lower, he said, it would be more environmentally friendly to use a bus along the route. In addition, it is anyway only "one of several criteria to be able to initiate the process of a line reactivation in Bavaria," according to the ministry.
Pressure from the population and local politics
Although the call to bring old lines back into service is not new, experts are optimistic that this time the appeals from the industry will not go unheeded. The pressure from the population and from local politics is much greater than in the past, he said. "People want their rail back," says Dirk Flege.

[a-driver]

I remember the days when people looked up and used the German rail network as an example of how things should be done….. in fact, many still do!  Oh dear.

https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/euro-2024-trains-germany-england-fans-gelsenkirchen-b2563683.html