Overview
- Train movement on the Schwarzwaldbahn stopped for about one hour after the on-duty dispatcher in the Gengenbach signal box became unreachable, causing six trains to be delayed for a total of 134 minutes.
- Officers found the 29-year-old dispatcher behind locked doors, apparently unconscious in a bed, and discovered empty beer bottles and two small bags with a white substance in his wallet.
- A breath test at the scene showed roughly 0.94–1.0‰ alcohol and the Staatsanwaltschaft Offenburg has opened investigations for endangering rail traffic and illegal possession while ordering a blood sample and criminal-technical analysis of the substance; lab results are expected in about a week.
- Deutsche Bahn says it enforces a strict zero-per-mille rule, is conducting an internal review of the incident, and notes that signal-box safety systems automatically set signals to halt when a dispatcher is unreachable, which limited immediate danger.
- Passenger group Pro Bahn is urging a two-person 'four-eyes' rule for dispatcher posts to prevent single-person failures, and if convicted the dispatcher could face up to five years in prison or fines, a development that could prompt policy or staffing changes.