Train driver overlooks red signal - railcar ends up in the sand

A train coming from the Czech Republic has ended up in the so-called sand track at Johanngeorgenstadt station (Erzgebirge) - a special track for slowing down a train. According to the Klingenthal Federal Police Inspectorate, the 75-year-old Czech railcar driver had overlooked a stop signal to enter the station. There were two passengers on the train, all of whom were uninjured. The train was traveling on the route from Karlovy Vary to Johanngeorgenstadt.

As Eckard Fiedler, spokesman for the federal police in Klingenthal, explained on request, the points for entering the station had not yet been set. The train therefore did not enter the platform, but ended up on the end track with a mound of sand. The railcar jumped off the track and was lifted back onto the track bed on Sunday. The railroad line from Potůčky in the Czech Republic to Johanngeorgenstadt remained closed, but the line on the German side towards Zwickau was not. "The trains are running normally."

The federal police are now investigating for dangerous interference with rail traffic.