Hot trains in Germany

[philjo]

Seen on BBC news:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-10723542

Germans hot and bothered by sizzling trains

Germany's high-speed trains may be known by the acronym ICE but stifling heat has sparked a furore over Deutsche Bahn's national rail services.

Crisis talks are opening shortly because air-conditioning breakdowns on trains have prompted the company to pay compensation to angry passengers.

For anyone who got medical help after riding on an overheated train Deutsche Bahn (DB) is offering 500 euros (£421) plus a ticket refund as compensation.

DB has now paid more than 2,200 people.

German media report that temperatures aboard some DB trains have soared above 50C, while the air-conditioning was only designed to cope with a maximum of 32C.

Ruediger Grube, chief executive officer for DB, is to discuss the problem on Thursday with German Transport Minister Peter Ramsauer and other government officials.

Mr Grube has questioned the construction quality of Inter City Express (ICE) trains, but the head of the German Railway Industry Association, Ronald Poerner, rejected the criticism.

"Our manufacturers do not produce trash, or any trains with any system malfunctions," Mr Poerner said, adding that poor maintenance might be to blame for the breakdowns.

German ZDF television reported that 27 children were taken to hospital in the northwestern city of Bielefeld on 10 July after their overheated train stopped there.

Germany, like other parts of Europe, has been gripped by a heatwave this month.

DB says air-conditioning systems on the next generation of ICE trains, due to enter service next year, will cope with temperatures of up to 40C, the Deutsche Welle news website reports.

 

[gordonthemoron]

according to my boss, the problems are restricted to the older ICE1 & 2 models. At least 48 ICEs have had air conditioning failures so far.

I generally use ICE3 & ICE-T trains, however I'll be using ICE2s in the next couple of weeks

 

[scandal]

Apparently the air conditioning systems on the ICE trains are only designed to operate up to temperatures up to 35 Degrees, which seems rather daft in Germany but there you go.

Gordon is right that the problem only seems to be amongst the older ICE1 and ICE2 trainsets considering the ICE3 and Ts are designed to oeprate at 35 degrees rather then 32 degrees of the earlier trainsets, the problem has come about due to the heatwave. I note DB are to refurbish the ICE2 sets at a cost of €100m which will no doubt sort the problem.

 

[Bittern]

I always thought the ICE 3 looked quite cute. >_>

 

[j0hn0]

be that as it may, I was recently in an ICE3 from Koln to Brussels and the aircon was broken in my carriage.

They wrote on my ticket "Austall Klima-anlage"

I really was unbearable and so I don't think that it is limited to 1s and 2s

 

[route101]

Try the train the trains in the Balkans for heat.

 

[Aussie_Rail]

Same thing happens here, trains are put out of service because the aircon breaks down, not only do the trains struggle, but so does the track. In some cases they have track workers hosing down parts of the track so they don't buckle.