It was not the first time that travelers on the Venetbahn in the Tyrolean Zams (Landeck district) had to be tied up on Sunday after a technical failure. Memories of the previous year and two incidents in 2013 were awakened. In addition, the mountain railway is also struggling financially to survive.
It was a control problem that – as reported – paralyzed the aging 1968 gondola on Sunday afternoon. Thomas Hittler, chairman of the supervisory board of Deutsche Bahn and deputy mayor of Landeck, assumed Monday. 17 people had to abseil 35 meters from the gondola that went up the mountain. They fled in terror.
Evacuation also almost a year ago
While the mechanics worked feverishly on Monday to solve problems, memories of August 16, 2021 were awakened. Almost a year ago, the train suddenly stopped due to a technical problem. Rescuers rescued 22 passengers and four dogs from the gondola going up the mountain. This was done with the help of the turntable ladder of the fire brigade. The Landeck-Zams mountain rescue team has dragged the five passengers in the second gondola out of their airy “prison”. “We have identified a copper explosion as the cause of the downtime,” Thomas Hittler said. This was the result of lightning damage that had occurred earlier.
Two incidents in 2013
Keyword “for”: On January 25, 2013, ten people were trapped in a Venet gondola for five hours. The reason for this – a power outage – was only indirectly related to the track: the power outage was caused by a landslide after a water pipe burst near a snow cannon. The ten people were abseiled from 50 meters.
And after a “cable derailment” of the carrier cable during a storm, rescue workers rescued 21 passengers from the Venetbahn on Christmas Day of the same year.
About 600,000 euros left from winter 2021/2022
Besides the technical problems, the Venet Bergbahnen are struggling financially to survive. According to Zammer Mayor Benedikt Lentsch, the municipalities of Zams and Landeck and the TVB Tirol West as the main shareholders currently have to cover a loss of about 600,000 euros from the winter. “At least we are behind the mountain,” Lentsch and Hittler emphasize in unison.
Source: Krone
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
