Investigation report into Riedlingen train crash due on one-year anniversary
One year after a regional train derailed in Riedlingen, killing three and injuring dozens, Germany's Federal Office for Railway Accident Investigation plans to publish its final report on the anniversary, 27 July 2026.
The accident
On 27 July 2025, a regional train derailed near Riedlingen in the Biberach district of Baden-Württemberg. Three people died: the train driver, a railway trainee and a 70-year-old female passenger. More than 30 passengers were injured, some of them life-threatening. According to investigators, a landslide triggered by heavy rain shortly before the accident probably caused the derailment. Several carriages interlocked, and the first carriage was pushed up an embankment and crashed into a tree, tearing off its front.
Investigation underway
The public prosecutor's office in Ravensburg opened a death investigation after the accident, standard procedure for unnatural deaths. A spokesman said the investigation is still waiting for a geological report. Separately, the Federal Office for Railway Accident Investigation (BEU) in Bonn is preparing its own final report. The BEU has asked the railways involved to respond to its findings and will then evaluate them before finalising the document.
The final investigation report into the event will then be prepared. The investigation report is then scheduled to be published on the anniversary of the event.
The BEU said the report would be made publicly accessible on its website.
Line repairs and timeline
The railway line was closed after the accident. Repair work lasted more than four months before trains were allowed back on the route.
- Regional train derails near Riedlingen: 3 killed, over 30 injured.
- Planned release of the BEU final investigation report on the first anniversary.
