Letbane malfunction in the morning causes terrible traffic as it just stops working in the middle of an intersection in Randersvej.
By Mariam Chehab and Teresa Schachtl, 10 February 2022
On early Wednesday morning the Aarhus lightway tram of L1, that takes the route from Grenaa to Aarhus H, broke down in the middle of an intersection in Randersvej. The accident happened right after it had left the station Stjernepladsen, where no other vehicles were involved. We talked to the Head of Development & Project Director at Aarhus Letbane, Martin Moth, who assisted us with more information about the incident.
Moth said that the accident happened approximately at 8:40 on Wednesday morning. The tram has been taken to the workshop to figure out and investigate the reason behind the malfunction, and it remains there until results are out. Because the tram had broken down in an intersection, the case was critical and could have resulted in tragic consequences. But fortunately, considering that it’s a rush hour, all people that were on the tram were uninjured and were able to leave the scene unharmed. Moth explained that the infrastructure and the vehicles of the entire letbane system are the responsibility of AAL and their suppliers, while the driving of the letbane is that of the French company Keolis. Moth stated that it is yet to be determined who is responsible for this malfunction, as the investigation results of the breakdown are not out yet. How the problem could have been avoided or whether it is a bigger problem than it seems is yet to be determined.
Due to mechanical work on the site trying to tow away the letbane, the breakdown of L1 Letbane has forced the L2 to stop as well and affected all sections. The traffic was also distrubed by the work until 11 o’clock when everything went back to normal.
Midttrafik, a company that works in transportation, helps the people in Aarhus stay up to date when it comes to transportation news. Besides, when accidents happen, Midttrafik always gives the people an alternative to what has broken down, and this was also shown in the breakdown of L1.
Despite the fact that no one was hurt and it was just a technical malfunction, the event brought back memories of the tragic accident, as Moth has mentioned. The fatal accident took place in Djursland back in 2019 where a car hit the railway resulting in the death of a Norwegian man and his seven-year-old son.
