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Cologne Regional Train Evacuated After Embankment Fire Halts Service

The Cologne fire department moved about 340 passengers to a replacement train following a 150-minute halt caused by a brush fire

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Erst Brand, dann medizinischer Notfall und technischer Defekt: Ein Regionalzug der Deutschen Bahn musste im Norden Kölns evakuiert werden
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Overview

  • A fire broke out on a rail embankment north of Cologne on the evening of July 5, forcing a Deutsche Bahn regional train to stop on open track for firefighting operations.
  • During the roughly two-hour delay, firefighters dealt with a medical emergency on board and technicians addressed a fault in the train’s systems.
  • Berufsfeuerwehr personnel carried out a full evacuation of around 340 travelers and escorted them onto a waiting relief train.
  • All passengers received medical attention as needed and the fire was extinguished shortly after the evacuation, allowing normal service to resume.
  • The episode follows similar vegetation-related shutdowns and technical failures on German rail lines, underscoring gaps in trackside vegetation management and infrastructure maintenance