After the arrival of the first emergency responders, it became clear that a tree had fallen onto the overhead electric line between Oberlinxweiler and Niederlinxweiler stations. The pantograph of the RB73 regional train from Saarbrücken collided with the tree lying on the overhead line.
Since further travel by train was no longer possible, the fire brigade was called to evacuate the 42 passengers from the train and escort them over the track bed to the replacement bus used as a substitute service.
Among the 42 passengers were several children and a person with a physical disability.
During the operation, the railway line had to be de-energized by the network operator and was closed to rail traffic in both directions. As a result of this measure, another train (RB 73 to Saarbrücken) near Werkstraße in St. Wendel was unable to continue its journey. The fire department also evacuated the second train with a total of 41 passengers.
In both cases, no one was injured. The federal highway 41 had to be completely closed between Niederlinxweiler and Oberlinxweiler during the operation, causing traffic disruptions at times.
The operation was able to be concluded after approximately 1.5 hours.
The fire districts of St. Wendel city center and Oberlinxweiler, the federal police, the police, the emergency manager of Deutsche Bahn and VLEXX, and the emergency medical services were deployed.
