Legal Claims in Train Crash Case

As the relatives of the 23 people killed in the Transrapid train crash mourned the loss of their loved ones at an memorial service in the western town of Lathen near the Dutch border, lawyers were looking into filing a possible manslaughter case against the train's operating company and individuals in the rail track control room on the day of the accident.

Berlin law firm Simon and Partner announced that it would be studying legal claims in connection with last week's crash in which the magnetic-levitation (maglev) train smashed into a stationary maintenance vehicle at high speed on the test track at Lathen.

The law firm, representing several people seeking damages, are investigating claims that a safety device which is in operation on the only other working maglev track between Shanghai city and its airport in China, was not used on the test track in Germany.

Safety feature possibly missing on Lathen track

"At the moment, we assume that the technical safety standard that was necessary and that is installed in Pudong, Shanghai did not exist on the test track," the law office told German press agency DPA.

Simon and Partner would study the potential liability of the IABG operating company, the Transrapid manufacturer, the technical certifying bodies and the staff monitoring the track on the day of the crash from the control room.

An unnamed source at the law firm told DPA that he thought the victims' chances of winning damages from the firms were relatively high.

The Federal Railways Agency, a government body, has already launched its own inquiry to investigate whether Friday's crash indicated tougher standards were needed on planned commercial lines.

Munich cools on possible maglev link

Meanwhile, the mayor of Munich said on Tuesday that he was not satisfied with the security arrangements for the maglev train line that his city is planning to build in the wake of last week's fatal accident.

The regional transport minister of Bavaria, of which Munich is capital, said on Monday the city was pressing ahead with plans to build a Transrapid train line despite the collision.

Mayor Christian Ude said however he was still waiting for replies to concerns expressed about the plans for Munich.

"We have known for a long time that the security concept contained big holes, which will require more money to put right than was earlier suggested," Ude told the Frankfurter Rundschau newspaper. "We were especially concerned about the security situation in the planned three-kilometer-long (1.9-mile-long) tunnel which the Transrapid would go through at top speed. We asked about the rescue possibilities in the emergency plan, but we did not receive a satisfactory answer."

Ude added he would prefer to see the city invest in an ordinary high-speed train for the planned line which would link the city center to Munich's international airport.

Mourners gather to remember dead

German President Horst Köhler was among the dignitaries attending the memorial service for those who were killed in the accident, along with Christian Wulff, the leader of the state of Lower Saxony.

Wulff spoke at the service at the St. Vitus church and told the attending relatives that the whole country was thinking of them in their grief.

"The pictures from Lathen are fresh in all our minds," he said. "Death came to them suddenly, tearing husbands and wives, mothers and fathers away from their loved ones."

The 23 victims of the collision included 10 employees from the RWE energy company who were riding on the train as part of a business trip. Two Americans were also killed.

The collision, which investigators believe was caused by human error, has cast a shadow over efforts to market the revolutionary train which floats above its track and can travel at up to 450 kilometers (280 miles) per hour.