The documentary goes on a research trip across the German rail network: looks at dangerous level crossings, where in some cases you have to wait up to two years for new barrier systems, looks for the causes of the countless slow-speed sections and asks experts: How can rail travel remain safe? More documentaries can be found at https://1.ard.de/besser-bahnfahren?yt=d For the ARD theme day #bahnfahren, SWR is publishing internal files from the Federal Railway Authority (EBA) on dangerous safety problems in rail operations on September 4th. These include official records from the period June 2019 to June 2022 on serious violations of safety requirements by DB companies and procedures with "orders for immediate enforcement". In addition, there are complaints by the Federal Railway Authority during on-site inspections. The ARD story "Safe rail travel! – What needs to change?” on the ARD theme day #bahnfahren, Monday 4th September at 10:50 p.m. on Das Erste and from 5:30 a.m. for a year in the ARD Mediathek. Dangers to life and limb, falling signals, impending derailment Rusted signals in Pocking in Bavaria, track gauges that are too wide in Rostock, incorrectly placed signals in Essen: The internal files of the Federal Railway Authority contain around 400 data sets. These include official notices, letters, emails, minutes and photos, including those relating to dangers to life and limb of passengers, train staff and third parties. “Unbelievable,” says railway expert Prof. Markus Hecht from the Technical University of Berlin, who sees the data as a sign of “neglected maintenance.” In the ARD story, Achim Stauß, press spokesman for Deutsche Bahn, comments on the complaints: “If defects are identified, we naturally take this very seriously. Let me say that in a company with over 200,000 employees in Germany and over 50,000 train journeys every day, there are of course human errors that happen. They just must not lead to something actually happening, to an accident occurring.” All results and information for downloading More information on the ARD theme day #bahnfahren, all results of the participation campaign #besserBahnfahren and the internal files of the Federal Railway Authority (EBA) on dangerous safety problems in rail operations can now be found at: daserste.de/-presse-thementag-bahnfahren100 This documentary was created in connection with our ARD program focus “safe train travel” on September 4th, 2023. #bahnfahren #swrdoku #swr All information about the participation campaign can be found here: https://1.ard.de/besserbahnfahren More documentaries can be found at https://1.ard.de/besser-bahnfahren and https://1.ard.de/sicher-bahnfahren All statements and facts correspond to the status at the time and have not been updated since then. Subscribe to the channel: / swrdoku You can find more documentaries on our channel or in the ARD Mediathek at https://www.ardmediathek.de/dokus