Germany - Railway Sabotage


The news that a man in Germany has been charged with attempted murder after allegedly removing  bolts from 80 metres of high speed railway track in an attempt to de-rail a train, is scary indeed.  Leaving terrorism aside it is hard to understand the motivation behind such incidents, which are not that rare.  Perhaps some research is required. I might use this period of enforced inaction to try and search the literature.  Last year the British Transport Police reported 624 cases of railway obstruction or endangerment.  Most of these cases are not on the scale of the incident in Germany, but the science behind railway safety is complex.  A small obstruction, let alone damage to the line of route, can result in disaster. 
Crime committed against the railway line of route is often regarded by the public as minor.  Public confidence in the safety of the network is based on a protective ignorance of what can happen when people seek to use the system as an attack vector or even when people misuse infrastructure such as level crossings.  This lack of public concern is fed by the industry who are quick to point to the relative safety of Britain’s railways and to suggest that this is an indicator of absolute safety.  It also ignores the repeated short comings of the companies themselves.
The railway system is much busier than it was 20 years ago. Trains are longer and faster.  It IS safer than it used to be but constant vigilance against crime and a due regard to crime prevention measures are essential.



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