It was also Tuesday. At 05:11 on February 9, 2016, the station master Michael P. receives the order to put the signaling mechanism into operation. But all his attention is directed elsewhere. He has connected to the internet and is passionately playing the game “Dungeon Hunter 5”, where bounty hunters hunt monsters, on his private mobile phone. He is obviously in his winning phase and has to pay to level up. In this phase, Michael P. makes a fool of himself and presses the wrong buttons. But the automatic system recognizes that there is a train moving from the other direction of the disputed route, which is a line, which the station master has given the green light and is heading to Bad Eibling in Bavaria.

Importance of proper education

But the video game monsters don’t let him make the right moves. He manually presses the wrong button again while intensively playing the video game on his mobile screen. The tragedy begins. The train passes the red light and accelerates. The other train is also moving from the other direction. Both carry 150 passengers. The head-on collision is inevitable and fierce. 12 dead and 89 injured, many of them seriously. Normally according to the regulation of the German Railways it is forbidden to use a private mobile phone while on duty. Human error. The station master is tried and sentenced to 3.5 years in prison for negligent homicide. In July 2018, he was released on parole, as provided for in the German Penal Code, having served 2/3 of his sentence. An accident that could have been avoided and that highlights how critical a profession is that of the station master. And how important is the right education that he should get. Already from the description of the tasks as mentioned on the German websites it becomes clear.

The stationmaster Michael P.

He is responsible for the safe and valid execution of train movements, their safety and other related tasks within a defined area of ​​his responsibility. Its location is in a station office, a remote control center or an operations center of a railway company. A station master must know how to operate the equipment and machinery at his workplace and regulate their operation despite the safety barriers present in the system. The profession of station master is recognized under the BBiG Vocational Training Act and studies usually last 3 years. But they can be shortened to 2.5 years for candidates with a Realschule secondary school certificate and to 2 years for candidates with an Abitur. The training is completed with a theoretical and practical examination before the competent Chamber of Industry and Commerce.

Ready to take responsibility

The largest company with train conductor training infrastructure is DB Netz AG. It is a subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn AG. Although the company has been organized as a limited company since 1994, it is nevertheless wholly owned by the German state and represented by the German Ministry of Digital Affairs and Transport. What makes Deutsche Bahn AG different from other providers is that it offers an additional six-month internship to obtain the license to practice the profession. Two months at a station office, 4 months at a seminar at DB Training or at DB Netz trained staff. DB Netz, a subsidiary of DB, is the largest railway infrastructure manager in Germany, which is also the largest in Europe. All training companies additionally require participation in a psychological aptitude test prior to employment. In addition to accuracy, reliability and flexibility candidates must be willing to take on a lot of responsibility as they are responsible for the safe execution of routes and maneuvering tasks and must remain calm in case something goes wrong from normal operation, to take appropriate measures depending on the situation always based on the applicable regulations and to be focused on the work they are doing.

Which was not the case for the station master who played video games on his cell phone during work hours. And as with the Tempe tragedy, the mobilization was massive. 180 firefighters with 79 vehicles, 275 police officers, 200 rescuers with 195 vehicles and 17 helicopters. Top politicians rushed to the scene of the tragedy to express their grief. And because it was Carnival, all events in the area were immediately cancelled. On the same night of the day of the fatal accident, the Leverkusen and Stuttgart teams wore black armbands at football matches. A few days later, a divine service was held in the parish church of Bad Eibling. There were no political resignations. It was clearly human error. After his release from prison, the then station master changed jobs. Almost 7 years later, at the entrance to the town of Bad Aibling there is a tall iron monument that symbolizes the power of their head-on collision.