Complex rescue operation during the night Train derails near Altstätten SG - one person in hospital due to shock
An Appenzeller Bahnen train derailed near Altstätten SG on Sunday evening. No one was injured.
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- An Appenzeller Bahnen train derailed in Altstätten SG on Sunday evening, nobody was injured.
- The railcar came to a standstill on an incline on a gravel bank, which prevented anything worse from happening.
- Recovery work with heavy cranes is ongoing, rail traffic has been interrupted and is being replaced by buses.
An Appenzeller Bahnen train derailed in Altstätten SG on Sunday evening. The accident occurred shortly after 6 p.m. above the "Alter Zoll" stop on the Gais-Altstätten line. No one was injured, but one passenger had to be taken to hospital with a shock for monitoring.
The train, which was traveling downhill, jumped off the rails with the railcar and the first bogie of the control car as it left the stop. The railcar, which weighed around 44 tons, came to a standstill at an angle on a gravel embankment - it was only thanks to this surface that the train did not plummet. Around 20 passengers were able to leave the vehicle on their own.
The rescue operation was complex: Two heavy-duty pneumatic cranes with lifting capacities of 100 and 150 tons are being used to secure the derailed train and get it back on track. Due to the tight space conditions on the old Stossstrasse, which runs parallel to the train, one of the cranes had to maneuver several hundred meters backwards to the accident site. The work is expected to continue until the early hours of the morning.
Rail traffic on the Gais-Altstätten line remains interrupted and Appenzeller Bahnen is operating replacement buses. The fire department has closed the old Stossstrasse in both directions. The cause of the accident is now being investigated.