Note that in this particular case two trains belonging to a small regional short distance company collided. I have relatives working for "Die Bahn"^, which is

Note that in this particular case two trains belonging to a small regional short distance company collided. I have relatives working for "Die Bahn"^, which is the actual national train company. And i can tell you that this kind of thing is a direct result of the privatization of the train industry in germany. First it simply resulted in less quality in transport, with money being saved on the maintenance of non-critical parts, such that i.e. one car per train may have non-functioning air control. Now small unaffiliated transport companies have sprung up to cover very short distance trips on budgets just as short. The result is what you have in the article. The only good news is that as of yet, travelling with Die Bahn is still safe, since they at least spend a lot of money on training and maintenance of critical parts. ^pronounced "dee bahn", meaning "The Rail"