Passenger power gets stranded German train moving

21/02/2014 - 19:03

(Reuters) - A German train stranded on a track in rural Bavaria got rolling again with the help of passengers who were asked by rail staff to get out and push, German media reported on Friday.

A spokeswoman from the Bayerische Oberlandbahn, Gabriela Wischeropp, confirmed that the passengers helped get the train moving, but declined to comment on other details. She said the incident was under investigation.

The electric train, on its way to Munich from Kufstein in Austria, got stuck on Monday on a section of track near the Austrian border that had apparently lost power. News reports of the incident only emerged on Friday.

A Bavarian newspaper's online edition, the Merkur, included a video link showing about 10 people pushing the train (http://www.merkur-online.de/aktuelles/bayern/kufsteinkiefersfelden-fahrgaeste-muessen-meridian-zug-schieben-meta-3378219.html)

Rather than wait for a tow from a diesel train, the electric train's crew asked passengers to get out and push. Their efforts managed to move the train to a section of the track with power.

(Reporting by Monica Raymunt; editing by Erik Kirschbaum and Alistair Lyon)