SBB threatens multi-million dollar dispute: Gotthard accident: Sommaruga warned in vain

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Switzerland is where it was before: the SBB must once again be held accountable for millions of damages that they did not cause. The freight train that derailed in the Gotthard Tunnel in mid-August will probably make regular train traffic impossible until mid-September 2024 – and is expected to cost the Federal Railways up to 130 million francs.

The car owner Transwaggon AG, which is responsible for the defect, can sit back for the time being: if the SBB tries to pass on the costs to the company in court, there is a risk of lengthy procedures with an uncertain outcome.

Already an accident in 2015

Outdated liability rules, from which Transwaggon already benefited, are to blame. In April 2015, a freight train derailed in Daillens VD. Toxic sulfuric acid leaked and six rescuers had to go to hospital. The Hamburg company VTG was responsible at the time.

The logistics company rents wagons to the chemical and petroleum industries and, with more than 94,000 freight wagons, has one of the largest private fleets in Europe. The freight wagon giant is closely linked to the Transwagon. VTG owns 50 percent of this. Although research has shown that serious deficiencies in maintenance caused the accident in 2015, the SBB has been fighting in court for years about the costs.

Sommaruga warned the Council of States

After completing the investigation into the accident, the Federal Council and the National Council wanted to make the companies responsible for maintenance more accountable in 2020. Then-Federal President Simonetta Sommaruga (63) warned the Council of States to adopt a corresponding motion “before something happens again”. There is an urgent need to clarify whether the general public bears the costs of such accidents or whether private vehicle owners cause the accidents.

“If you reject the motion today, I do not assume that you have gotten rid of the problem,” the Minister of Transport said in the House of Representatives in 2020. “The problem remains with you and we will certainly deal with it again have to deal with.”

The Council of States rejected the project. On behalf of the Transport Policy Commission of the Council of States, FDP chairman Thierry Burkart (48) said they wanted a more in-depth evaluation before taking action.

Politicians see no need for action

In June, the Federal Council presented the report requested by Parliament. Conclusion: Car owners are rarely liable if the cars they maintain cause accidents. Liability law dates from the time when railways were responsible for safety and maintenance.

Nowadays, however, the owners of the freight wagons maintain them in their own workshops. They often outsource this task to other companies. For example, the Hamburg company VTG outsourced maintenance to the Kaminski company, which maintained the accident vehicle in workshops in Hameln (D). This further complicates the issue of liability.

The transport committees of the National Council and the Council of States are currently discussing the report. The chairman of the National Council Transport Commission, SP politician Jon Pult (39), also sees no need for political action, he told SRF.

However, former SP state councilor Paul Rechsteiner (71), one of the spokespersons for the motion at the time, says that the accident in the Gotthard dramatically demonstrates ‘how irresponsible the rejection of the motion was’. This harms safety in public transport.

Source:Blick