2024-02-01 16:50:00
– This is how the derailed tram slid across Bern’s Kornhausplatz
On Thursday morning, a tram completely derailed in the city of Bern. The rescue blocked public transport until later in the followingnoon.
Published today at 5:50 p.m. Updated 4 hours ago
The tram came to a stop just in front of the tables at the Cuba Bar.
Photo: Sibylle Hartmann
It took until late followingnoon before all trams in the city of Bern might run according to schedule once more. Only following 4 p.m. did the trams run once more without interruption or disruption. The reason: On Thursday morning, shortly following 7 a.m., a tram derailed at Kornhausplatz.
The tram line 7 ran from the Ostring towards the train station. When turning left towards Marktgasse, the rail vehicle left the tracks and rolled or rather slid across Kornhausplatz and stopped between Chindlitreibbrunnen and Cuba-Bar.
It rammed a ticket machine, a trash can and several permanently installed benches. According to a police report, the tram driver, a passenger and a passer-by were slightly injured.
Cuba Bar posted a video from its surveillance camera on Facebook. You can clearly see how the tram slides across Kornhausplatz:
Passengers report acceleration
The tram is said to have accelerated more than usual following Helvetiaplatz, as a passenger was quoted as saying by “20 Minutes”. It didn’t stop at the Zytglogge stop, but continued on. The description is confirmed by an independent source.
A reader of this newspaper reported that a person was almost hit by the tram sliding across the square, but was just able to save himself. According to the police report, a medical problem for the tram driver cannot currently be ruled out as the cause of the accident. But possible technical problems are also being investigated.
The affected Siemens Combino Advanced tram weighs 36 tons without passengers and can travel up to 60 kilometers per hour.
The tram on line 7 came from the direction of Casinoplatz and was on its way to Bümpliz.
Photo: Adrian Moser
Federal authorities are investigating the accident
In addition to the police, the Swiss Accident Investigation Board (Sust) is investigating. The driving and switch data have been saved. “We will now evaluate these,” explains the head of the investigation, Markus Lüthi. Meanwhile, the cantonal police are questioning the witnesses.
Within a year, the Sust will publish a report on the events and causes of the accident. The Sust investigates accidents involving trains, aircraft and ships for the immediate causes, but also for the underlying reasons and the associated risks. The federal authority is not intended to clarify any questions of guilt and liability, but rather to help prevent future accidents.
Traces on the ground show where the tram slid across the square.
Photo: Adrian Moser
The closed Kornhausplatz on Thursday morning.
Photo: Adrian Moser
Tram was towed away
The rescue work on Kornhausplatz began at 10 a.m. A breakdown service pulled the tram back onto the tracks with a truck. And from there it was pulled into the depot, as Bernmobil spokesman Rolf Meyer explained. It will be examined and repaired there. Meyer assumes that tram number 765 can be made operational once more.
There was also only minor damage to the rails and overhead lines. For example, a wall hook on the overhead line was torn away. “All in all, we were lucky in misfortune,” says Meyer.
The tram is pulled back onto the tracks by a truck.
Video: Franziska Rothenbühler
Shortly following 4 p.m. the picture on Kornhausplatz was back to normal. Only the markings on the ground indicate the tram accident.
Photo: Thomas Hagspihl
70 trams per hour
This was the fourth tram derailment in the past 20 years and probably the most spectacular. In December 2003, a low-floor tram on line 5 derailed near the train station, in 2015, a tram on line 7 derailed at the turning loop in Bümpliz, injuring three people, and last summer a tram derailed between Muri and Worb.
But a complete derailment like the Zytglogge is very rare, says Meyer. The intersection is considered a neuralgic point due to the two tight curves and the high frequency. According to Meyer, around 70 trams pass through the square every hour.
Clearing the scene of the accident began around 9:30 a.m.
Photo: Adrian Moser
Little by little the tram is pulled back onto the rails.
Foto: Franziska Rothenbühler
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