German investigators sought Saturday to learn whether workers made mandatory checks before a high-speed magnetic train started rolling with a maintenance vehicle still on the elevated test track. The resulting crash killed 23 people, reported The Associated Press. Alexander Retemeyer, a prosecutor speaking for investigators, said they were focussing on what happened in the 32-kilometer (20-mile) track's control center, where the required two employees were on duty. «What we are looking into is why the train was given the go-ahead even though the maintenance vehicle was on the track,» Ratemeyer said. Friday's crash near Lathen in northwestern Germany was the first involving a train using magnetic levitation, or maglev, technology, in which the train rides on a magnetic field without touching rails. The lack of friction helps make possible speeds as high as 450 kilometers per hour (270 miles per hour). The controllers, Ratemeyer said, were supposed to make sure the maintenance vehicle was off the track through several layers of checks. Only then were they to turn on the electricity enabling the train driver to start, he said. Investigators examined the control room log book and discovered that the maintenance truck was where it was supposed to be. It headed out at 8 a.m. (0600 GMT) and was logged at a spot called point 120 on the rack at 9:53 a.m. (0753 GMT) when the train started its high-speed run. Fifty-eight seconds later, the train hit the truck at 170 kilometers per hour (105 miles per hour.) The controllers had several ways to determine whether the vehicle was on the track: the log book, a check of its shed, and a GPS satellite navigational device on the vehicle, which showed it as a green dot on one of the computer systems _ but not the main security system showing the location of the train. They were also supposed to get a radio call from other workers confirming that the vehicle was out of the way. Further interviews will determine whether anyone had told it to return before the train came down the track, Retemeyer said. The two control center employees have not been interviewed because they were in shock and undergoing care, he said.
