SPEAKING at a press conference in Frankfurt on May 3, German Railway Chairman Dr Johannes Ludewig gave some indication of the safety measures likely to be introduced once the enquiry into the ICE disaster at Eschede on June 3 1998 is concluded. Noting that DB ’is doing everything humanly possible to prevent a similar catastrophe’, Ludewig listed six safety-related activities that included comparing DB’s maintenance systems with those of national airline Lufthansa, adoption of a ’four-eyes principle’ for ’relevant checking processes’, and distance-based ultrasonic wheel checks.
Also on Ludewig’s list was a ruling ’to review plans for new lines so as to avoid where possible the location of points and crossings on or ahead of bridges and tunnels’. We understand this could mean design changes to the K
