The 9/2 Bad Aibling Train Crash: by accident or design?

Introduction

Whenever accidents that are described as "very, very unusual" happen with attendant serious loss of life, my natural inquisitiveness is aroused. Are there any strange features or indications of any less obvious explanations? We have learnt that these may be rooted in world affairs and the covert activities of nation states. If so, they are usually strenuously denied, unless the purpose is to point the finger at and accuse some foreign state or terrorist group.

I, and others like me can hardly be blamed after being sensitised to such over the past fifteen years, most recently in the Paris outrages of 2015, the many inaccuracies and inexplicable of which, like many of the other events before them, remain un-investigated and un-explained by government. An official narrative is promulgated and any errors that might question it are either totally ignored or strenuously denied. They are never investigated or explained.

Serious disasters can and do happen and may be purely 'accidental'. Frequently however, the cause(s) may be identified as having a significant technical and/or human contributory factor. Sometimes, causes cannot be adequately explained or be blamed on any identifiable reasons. That is the job of the investigators. At first sight at least, given all the known dangers of single track, the predictability of the trains in question, the knowledge and training of the staff, the primacy of safety on the railway network and the multiple automatic systems, designed to prevent collision, this event raises some strange and as yet unexplained questions.

What Happened?

At about 07:00 local time (06:00 GMT) on Tuesday 9th February 2016, two commuter trains operated by Bavarian firm 'Meridian', hit each other head on. One of the trains came off the tracks and many carriages were tipped over. Eleven people were died, including both sets of drivers and guards, at the time or subsequently from their injuries. Twenty were seriously injured and many more had minor injuries. The emergency services have reported that it is amazing there were not more fatalities with 150 on board the two trains and the damage so extreme. Fortunately it being in the school holidays children normally using the train, were not on it. The accident occurred on a stretch of track between the spa town of Bad Aibling and Rosenheim. (See BBC graphic below)

Apparently there is a speed limit of 100km per hour (62mph) at the point where the accident happened and the trains are thought to have been travelling at or close to that speed. The bend in the track would have prevented visual observation preventing manual braking in time by the drivers. This of course still does not explain how two trains were allowed on the track at the same time or why all automatic signalling and braking systems failed. The automatic braking system fitted to the track had passed safety checks only the week before, officials said.

The BBC reported that “DB Netz, a subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn, runs railway signalling across Germany. Its most recent annual report - from 2014 - states that 424 of the 3,090 signal boxes were electronic. On the stretch of railway line in question, however, the signal box was of an older generation, which is run by relay interlocking and requires human input. The signals were checked the week before the crash.

In case signals fail, German railways are fitted with a final safety guard to prevent crashes. Cab signalling known as PZB (Punktfoermige Zugbeeinflussung - or "intermittent train control") will set off an alarm in the driver's compartment when the train approaches a red light. If the driver does not respond by pressing a button, the train will brake automatically.

Likewise, the PZB system causes automatic braking to kick in if a train ever goes through a red light. Deutsche Bahn have confirmed to the BBC that this measure was available on the Holzkirchen-Rosenheim line, where the accident happened.”

“Chris Jackson from the Railway Gazette magazine in the UK told BBC World TV the crash was "very, very unusual" because of the PZB system. He said: "All the safety systems have to have an override for when things go wrong. There are very strict conditions for when that can happen."

“The trains that crashed on Tuesday morning were part of a recently built fleet. The fleet belongs to the Bayerische Oberlandbahn (BOB), a privatised train company, which operates in the Bad Aibling area under the local name 'Meridian'. (I assume it is the same company that runs trains on certain routes in the UK) The BOB exists across southern Bavaria. Its parent company, Transdev, is in turn owned by the French company Veolia. Last week the BOB warned that 10 out of the fleet of 35 trains were out of order, owing to technical difficulties. As the cause of the accident is currently unknown, there is no suggestion that this was to blame.”

Reasons for Questioning Events.

Conspiracy theories should never be automatically assumed but they should never be dogmatically ruled out either. We have learnt that far too often they have proved to be correct. There is nothing immediately obvious about this crash that would support some devious theory of intent but notwithstanding this there are are some rather intriguing features that might even be considered suspicious.

Major incidents such as these if planned as a 'covert event' by secret agencies are not necessarily always intended to stoke hatred against a putative enemy. They can also be used as indications of the sort of thing that can happen if governments do not comply with secret missives or obligations. In the political world it might be portrayed as the equivalent of the Mafia trick of waking up to find a horses head in the bed. Some might think that some of recent world events might fall into that category.

As far as Germany is concerned it has appeared to avoid the sort of terrorist events experienced by Britain, Spain, France, the USA and other places around the globe. Has it been protected for some reason or just lucky? However there have been some strange contra-indications recently. For example the Germanwings Flight 4U9525 that inexplicably crashed into the Alps, subsequently blamed wholly on the pilot Andreas Lubitz, had 72 German nationals on board. The Russian A321 that crashed over the Sinai killing 224, involved German experts because the plane was assembled in Germany in 1997, and its flight recorders were made there. The claim that young male immigrants were responsible for attacking local women during New Year’s Eve celebrations in Cologne seemed highly contrived, even staged. Its impact was profound however. (See: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jan/06/tensions-rise-in-germany-over-handling-of-mass-sexual-assaults-in-cologne ) The Stade de France 'attacks' happened when the German team was playing. Could this all be part of some larger strategy of which the recent train crash is an element?

We should not overlook the fact that Angela Merkel has been much criticised for her position on refugees and for opposing measures against Putin. In private it might even have intimated further moves unpopular in certain quarters particularly as respects the present crisis in Syria and Palestine.

The causes of the accident therefore are yet to be determined. No doubt the investigators from the German State and representatives of track and rail companies will be thorough and leave no stone unturned. Unfortunately we have learnt from other disasters where 'terrorist' issues are involved (do we need to be reminded of New York, London, Boston, Ukraine, Paris and many more?) proper investigations are never carried out after the event or are fatally flawed, we presume because of powerful vested and/or political interference.

Of course there is no suggestion of terrorist or otherwise clandestine involvement in this case and no group or state has claimed responsibility for it or been blamed, but neither can that possibility be wholly excluded, unless and until the cause has been reliably and categorically discovered and revealed. 

However the public has become less trustful of official investigations with good reason. There is now little doubt that the much delayed inquiry into the 9/11 attacks was compromised from the first and came to conclusions that not only cannot be trusted but are positively wrong. It did not believe it was important to look into all the financial implications (everyone knows the importance of 'following the money') or the reasons for the collapse of Building Seven, or the involvement of Israeli intelligence and agencies and the many prominent figures in the Jewish community.

Similarly there has never been any proper investigation into the London tube and bus bombings. The way the inquest avoided important questions was to the great dissatisfaction of those affected, either as bereaved persons or survivors. In this and the Paris cases, inaccuracies that can only be described as official lies, have been perpetrated. 

Why this should be has never been explained by government. Quite the reverse is the case. Threats have been publicly made by David Cameron and others that those who seek to reveal the truth will be treated as if they were themselves 'terrorists'. This and many other instances, should make us very wary of investigations and explanations in such cases.

Criminals seldom admit to their crimes or provide full information as to method and motivation, so if from a distance we are to enquire into events, it is necessary to take a 'sideways' look at all and any circumstantial or coincidental information that may be available using only the most basic Internet tools. 

It cannot compete with the official investigators with all the legal and technical resources available to them. It can only flag up the possible tell-tale signs and anomalies that might provide the smoke to the much more dangerous fire. For example in the case of 9/11, the huge 'shorting' – betting on a fall in the share values - of the two airlines involved, must beyond peradventure prove foreknowledge in certain circles, the identity of which if discovered, would have been highly significant. No government agency thought it worthwhile!

Similarly the fact that the Israeli Embassy in London, where Benjamin Netanyahu happened to be staying at the time, was warned ahead of the explosions on 7/7, or that Mossad agents admitted they were in New York “to witness the event” must at the very least prove fore-knowledge. The full horrific implications of this and much more has been systematically been prevented from entering the mainstream media or public consciousness and has never been properly exposed for fear of its implications. Thanks largely to the Internet, the intention of deceive and cover-up, has to a large extent been frustrated.

So without drawing any adverse conclusions let us look to see if there any familiar tell-tale signs or 'markers' that might suggest there is more to this incident than 'meets the eye' even perhaps possible sabotage for political or other purposes. The fact that this happen does not need to be proved. The issue is whether there are any indications of it in this particular case? The following headings are the sort of things we are looking for:


The likelihood of something happening 'accidentally'


The more unlikely the incident happening in the way it does, the more likely is the possibility of some malign interference. We are all now aware of the impossibility of the Twin Towers collapsing at free fall speed - that is as a stone might through air - without additional artificial assistance in the form of explosive charges. This literally speaking, 'blows a hole' through the official version of events. If there were any doubt relating to the twin towers (and there isn't despite the refusal of government to admit it) the demolition of Building Seven sweeps them away.

Now in the case of the 9/2 Bad Aibling rail disaster it was certainly very, very unlikely. Railways have been in operation for nearly two centuries and are now one of the safest forms of travel. The risks and dangers are well known and methods to control them advanced and deeply ingrained. This is particularly the case with single line track where methods were at a very early stage, developed to absolutely prevent collision. Apart from the actual timetabling and signalling, clever methods were adopted where a train could not advance unless it held a 'key' that had to be handed over to the waiting train coming in the opposite direction. Technology may have replaced this 'fail-safe' method, but should be no less reliable unless they have been over-ridden or tampered with.

There was nothing unusual about the timetabling in this case. The trains were known and expected. Everyone knew the line was single track and the consequences of two trains travelling over it at the same time. There is evidence that standard procedure, namely that the one train waited before the other passed by, was abandoned. "At the first station, this train normally has to wait for five minutes or so for the opposite one to arrive. After a while, we started to move on to the next station without waiting for the opposite train," electrical engineer Joe Adediran told the BBC.

It appears that the signals perversely allowed both trains to proceed. I imagine normally this would not be possible and would have to over-ridden in some way. Investigators will want to know how this could happen? Was it manually or electronically over-ridden?

Then there are the other automatic systems designed to apply the brakes of the train if and when passing red lights. Investigators will also be looking carefully at this and particularly if the driver was either disabled or ignored the warning. Fortunately the three 'black boxes' (why three?) should be able to throw light on these factors and answer the matter definitively.

The possibility of electronic or technical interference.

We are now in an age when virtually all new transport vehicles, whether on the ground, at or under the sea, in the air or space, are controlled by the 'infallible' wizardry of computers. This means that, to a certain extent, human control has been replaced by electronic systems, to the extent that cars and even aeroplanes can now driven or flown 'pilotless'.

They can also be designed to respond remotely via radio control, to the extent that driver or pilot lose control completely. We see it in the automatic braking systems being fitted to cars, but it is not limited to braking. Accelerator and steering can be similarly controlled remotely, if the right electronics are fitted. 

The issue has been suggested as an explanation for a number of high-profile automotive fatal accidents including that of Princess Diana and the Hollywood star Paul Walker. The technology was also most likely employed in the case of the Missing Malaysian Airlines MH 370. So we see that it is not far-fetched to postulate possible remote over-ride of the signalling and/or train safety systems.

The fact that the operators have recently announced ten of the thirty five trains were out of commission owing to technical faults seems a very high proportion and may be a red flag as to the cause of the accident.

Parallel 'mock exercises'

Almost invariably, in questionable or 'false flag' events, there is evidence of co-incidentally-timed and related 'mock exercises'. These are used for cover and confusion purposes. It was there (at multiple levels) on 9/11; it was there in London 7/7; it was there in Boston; it was there in Paris on 13/11. This cannot be ignored or explained away with a shake of a dismissive head.

Now as far as the German crash is concerned, it appears to be quite free of any such thing which is reassuring. However there is one significant feature that might have a bearing. 

The track signalling was apparently checked only a week before the collision and found to be working perfectly. This would appear to rule out the possibility of a technical or electronic fail and point the finger more towards human error. However we should not rule out that 'engineering works' can provide opportunity to install devices or otherwise interfere with the system if this was the malign intention. 

Intentional sabotage always requires credible 'cover' for the actual work. 'Maintenance and testing work' the week before would of course fit the bill. There are so many examples of how this principle has been employed in the past by escaping prisoners, thieves, assassins, spies and agents of government. We cannot of course know whether it was a factor in this accident. It is however a small fact worth noting.

The appearance in the press of a 'hero/raconteur' character

In virtually every suspicious incident, a hero raconteur emerges, conveniently briefed with a story for the press which then gets widespread coverage. These people become the 'face' of the incident to evoke whatever emotions are intended. Shock, horror, fear, sympathy, righteous indignation or revenge. It is a 'good news story' and helps distract and detract from any inconvenient questions or discoveries. 

This might, or might not, be accompanied by highly distressing and poignant film footage taken of the carnage by this or some other person, who just happened to be present at the scene, with the necessary camera and with the presence of mind to film it. Both Paris terror attacks had such a person on hand to capture the terrifying events unfold. They appear in the media with amazing rapidity and gain wide circulation by virtue of it. 

This is a tad suspicious to say the least, especially when uniformly in such incidents all security CCTV appears to fail or is kept secret as in the case of the Pentagon attack, the killing of Jean Charles de Menezes, the last journey of Princess Diana - to name but three notable instances.

In this German case, it is the aforementioned 'electrical engineer Joe Adediran' who was on the train between Rosenheim ('Roses Home') and Holzkirchen ('Wooden Churches'), appears to fill this role and has a 'lucky escape because he was sitting with his back to the direction of travel'. He is given huge prominence in this BBC item at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-35548360 that interestingly places him in the context of other survivors of traumatic events including 9/11 and Paris. 

It appears somewhat strange to me that by the 13^th February, someone in the BBC has decided to link the events from the position of survivors. We had parallel individuals in Paris, also interestingly black African as it happens, explaining how they escaped any injury from suicide bombers though standing close by, or were saved from serious injury by their mobile phone! Mr Adediran may indeed be a genuine and innocent 'electrical engineer' and survivor of a serious accident, but if nothing else his treatment by the BBC gives rise to questions.

A BBC interview with him is here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4mmcTzT6XI Two observations: 
(1) He appears to have a tattoo on the back of his right hand as follows '6A' or similar which he waves in front of the camera so it can be clearly seen. It is not small or insignificant. It presumably has meaning to it even if we cannot distinguish what it is. Those into symbolism might recognise some interesting connections. 
(2) The prominence of the trade mark hat is very obvious and less so the t-shirt. As noted elsewhere this also fits a common pattern in relation to 'crisis actors' who are used to promote particular brands in the knowledge they will obtain wide publicity. Of course I am not claiming this proves Mr Adediran (photo below c/o BBC) is a crisis actor.



His film of the event can be viewed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4mmcTzT6XI
You may feel, as do I, that it is very uninformative.


The way the incident is handled for propaganda or political purposes


I see no evidence of this particular feature common to 'false flag' event. However it will be interesting to see how the story develops, if it does. The BBC feature above was compiled by Rozina Sini (picture below c/o the BBC) who's BBC profile is as follows. We might note that the BBC was heavily criticised for its subsequent coverage of the events of 9/11 in which apparently Rozina had a significant input.

“Bradford born Rozina studied hard to achieve her ambition of working in the media. She completed a degree in Broadcast Journalism at Nottingham University and joined the BBC Asian Network in 2001. She quickly established herself as an integral cog in the News Team, when only three months into her new job, she led reports into the 9/11 attacks. Just one year later, her career in the media was cemented when she became a Senior Broadcast Journalist. Since then Rozina has reported on a wide range of news stories,from the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, to the Pakistan Earthquake and London's July 7th Bomb Attacks, as well as entertainment features, including the Filmfare Awards."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/profiles/1FDcS6tGt2LkzGsgdCtD1YJ/rozina-sini



Strange co-incidences in place or timing involving government agencies


I do not need, nor will space or time permit, a rehearsal of instances of this in past events. However a few in the German case may be worth noting. 

As to timing, the accident happened on the 9^th February, 2016. If we write it as 9.II.16 it strangely replicates 9/11. Purely coincidentally of course but interesting none the less. It also occurred at 07.00 local time the connotations of which just happen to involve a certain Secret Service (06.00 GMT) 

Perhaps more significant however is the fact that the trains met at just the location where driver visibility was impaired by the sweep of the bend. This might just have been bad luck but if the cause was more sinister it was certainly the best place to ensure avoiding action by the drivers would be less likely. That they did apply the brakes is confirmed by said survivor. (See quote above)


On a rather wider front, the accident happened just outside the town of Bad Aibling. (Is it fanciful to suggest this is closely related to "Bad Enabling" and may be one of those little 'internal jokes' so favoured by certain secret agencies such a prominent feature of the Chevaline murders.  

A Wikipedia entry  tells us the following: “In the year 1933, Bad Aibling officially became a city. After the Second World War, Bad Aibling was the site of POW Discharge Center #26, where German POWs were released from captivity to civilian status. Later, the area evolved into a major centre for intelligence organizations and secret services.

In 2004 the American Bad Aibling Echelon station (Field Station 81) closed after several decades of operation. After the departure of the NSA, parts of the station have been used by the Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND), with NSA employees moving to the Mangfall barracks. 

The radomes are still used intensively. The station is used in cooperation with the NSA, which provides the BND with search terms (such as email addresses), which then forwards the results back to the NSA.”

Wikipedia has this on ECHELON: "Originally a secret government code name, is a surveillance program (signals intelligence / SIGINT collection and analysis network) operated on behalf of the five signatory nations to the UKUSA Security Agreement^[1]—Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States, also known as the Five Eyes.

The ECHELON program was created in the late 1960s to monitor the military and diplomatic communications of the Soviet Union and its Eastern Bloc allies during the Cold War, and was formally established in 1971.

By the end of the 20th century, the system referred to as "ECHELON" had allegedly evolved beyond its military and diplomatic origins, to also become "... a global system for the interception of private and commercial communications."  

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ECHELON)

So the location has long and deep connections to both American and German intelligence. Just another purely coincidental fact.

Incidentally there is also a  2009 American science fiction action thriller film directed by Greg Marcks called the Echelon Conspiracy (formerly titled The Gift) that tells the story of a targeted young American engineer. It kicks off with "a young American computer engineer (Shane West as Max) acquiring a mobile phone that receives strange text messages. First they encourage him to miss his flight which crashes soon after takeoff. Then the messages direct him to buy a certain stock, which increases by 313%. Next, the messages direct him to a hotel/casino in Prague to gamble. He first wins one-hundred thousand Euro on a slot machine and bets the entire amount on a hand of blackjack, which he wins." WIKI. 

Could this be yet another little private joke in certain quarters? 

The wider political climate

Germany has an interesting position in World and European affairs particularly since it has been reunified. It is an example of a technologically and economically advanced nation that has somewhat compromised its position by joining a common European currency that has involved effectively subsidising weaker southern nations. Having forsworn nuclear weapons and foreign military intervention it has benefited from the security provided through NATO without the costs. 

In the European sphere it dominates in industrial and economic spheres which has led to resentment in some quarters, particularly as it relates to poorer nations within the EC. It still carries the weight of its Nazi past particularly in its ambivalent dealings with Israel, having supplied submarines and other military equipment. Yet one detects a certain animosity and friction between the two, as demonstrated in the recent Netanyahu 'grand tour' of European leaders. It has recently caused big waves in relation to immigration, NSA surveillance (see above), Russia, Israeli atrocities in Gaza and the West Bank and rapprochement with Iran. It might know a lot more about world events than it lets on. Could recent disasters act as a thinly veiled warning to keep sturm or else? 

Since the Second World War, Germany has been 'under the thumb' of America which in turn has been deeply embedded in Jewish and Zionist interests particularly in the banking, intelligence and military fields. Some have argued powerfully that German influence has been a powerful factor in both American and British political spheres through the remnants of Third Reich Secret Service (The BND). For example the claim has been made that British Prime Minister Ted Heath was a German agent from his Oxford University days and this deeply affected his decision to lead Britain into the EEC as it then was. (See: http://www.minimalhome.com/article/show/541) Michael Shrimpton claims to have top level inside information on espionage and international politics and has written a book on the subject called “Spy Hunter”. He was recently gaoled for a 'nuclear bomb hoax', for which he claims he was unjustly framed to shut him up. He has been labelled by the government as a 'fantasist'. Many of his claims are certainly fantastical, whether true or not. He also takes a very pro-Israel position which may be significant.

There are two issues that might particularly concern the American/Israeli axis as it relates to Germany. The first its position with the Syria/Palestine/Iran. The second relates to Germany's position in relation to Russia. Clearly America and Israel want it to hold the agreed line that it has chosen to decline. The mass immigration from Syria has weakened Merkel's domestic position, exacerbated by recent events that might well have been engineered for that purpose. Is there an intention to bring disaster to an up to now, relatively protected nation? Could a disastrous train crash be an intentional part of that strategy?

Possible Economic/Commercial Repercussions

The train operator 'Meridian' is part of a much larger group called 'Transdev' which is part of an even larger global corporation named whose two major share holders are French institutions/companies Caisse des Depôts and Veolia Environnement of which more below.

Transdev says this of itself: “Bringing together two of the world's leaders in passenger transportation, Transdev responds to the growing desire for better, simpler travel for today's mobile citizen. With its geographic coverage, expertise and service offerings, Transdev delivers a unique response. Globally Transdev has 83,000 employees in 19 countries who intimately understand the local communities they serve. An international profile and a complementary expertise give it a capacity to imagine the most innovative solutions and deliver customised responses. An extensive experience in blending public and private interests enables us to find answers that simultaneously meet the needs of communities and individuals." http://www.transdevplc.co.uk/about/about-us.jsp

And of the accident this: “Managers and all Transdev employees are terribly shocked by this accident of exceptional severity. At this time, all their thoughts are with the victims, their families, their colleagues and their relatives. Jean-Marc Janaillac, Transdev's Chairman and Director, immediately set off for Germany. An investigation will be opened by the German police. Transdev wishes the causes of this tragedy to be sought out completely and transparently.” http://www.transdev.com/en/media/press-releases/germany-train-accident.htm

From WIKI we get this: “The Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations (English: Deposits and Consignments Fund) is a French financial organization created in 1816, and part of the government institutions under the control of the Parliament. Since 2014, Pierre-Rene Lemas has served as its Chairman."

Veolia Environnement S.A., branded as Veolia, is a French transnational company with activities in three main service and utility areas traditionally managed by public authorities –water management, waste management and energy services. In 2012, Veolia employed 318,376 employees in 48 countries. Its revenue in that year was recorded at €29.4 billion. It is quoted on the Paris and New York Stock Exchanges. It is headquartered in the of Paris.

Now to get to the 'nitty gritty' there have been some high profile controversies affecting the Veola company. From Wikipedia we have the following summary.

"In February 2011 the Tower Hamlets London Borough Council of the London borough of Tower Hamlets, voted to review its position with Veolia and place no further contracts with it, after claiming that Veolia's work for the Israeli government assisted the "continued oppression of the Palestinian people". The Justice and Peace Commission, part of the Catholic Church in England, urged London municipalities to stop doing business with Veolia because of its involvement with illegal settlements. Veolia denied wrongdoing.

Palestinian human-rights organization Al-Haq instructed lawyers in the Netherlands to submit a formal objection against the decision of Stadsregio Arnhem Nijmegen, a municipality, to award a public transport concession to Hermes, the Dutch subsidiary of Veolia Transdev. The objection was based on Veolia’s involvement in what Al-Haq claims are Israel’s violations of international law."

"In a 2012 interview with the Israeli press, Veolia's Denis Gasquet, senior executive vice president, admitted that Veolia had been under pressure from pro-Palestinian groups in Europe, particularly over the Jerusalem Light Rail. Parties within Veolia had argued that the group was losing tenders as a result, but Gasquest said he did not know of any tenders lost due to Veolia's activities in Israel. He confirmed Veolia's intention to stay in Israel and occupied Palestine, while exiting the transport business."

"On April 1, 2015, the company announced on its website "Veolia closes the sale of its activities in Israel."This was taken by supporters of the BDS (Boycott Divestment and Sanctions) movement to signify a success for their campaigning efforts: "The sale follows a worldwide campaign against the company’s role in illegal Israeli settlements that cost the firm billions of dollars of lost contracts."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veolia#West_Carrollton_plant_explosion

Ah, so now we have a direct link between the company that owns the trains that crashed and a decision to divest itself of Israeli assets and undertakings - effectively joining and encouraging an international trade embargo on Israel that could be disastrous for its future. (In Britain it will be noted, the government has announced its intention to prevent local authorities from allowing 'ethical considerations' influence their procurement programmes, clearly aimed on Israeli products.) 

Could this provide a plausible explanation for an act of sabotage? It is not as far fetched as it might seem. Israel is definitely into this sort of retributive action as we have witnessed daily in Gaza and Lebanon, not to mention New York and London. Any nation that can target schools and hospitals full of children and the sick would be quite capable of causing a train crash as punishment for a damaging trade decision. In fact given the location and victims it is perhaps possible that 'two birds have been killed with one stone' with a message to both German and French interests, within a stone's throw from an historic surveillance and intelligence centre. Veola as it happens also suffered from two major disasters in the United States in 2009 and 2011, respectively a huge explosion in a chemical plant that caused deaths and $50 million damage and a catastrophic mechanical failure in a waste water treatment plant. With only a cursory awareness I will not comment further on them.

Conclusion

So in conclusion what can we say? Only that it is wise in this day and age to keep a very open mind about events particularly those that involve an element of either barbarity or disaster, which get major news coverage especially either political capital or some other purpose is made of it. I have to say in the case of the Bad Aibling crash these elements do not appear to be present. But what if the purpose in this case was more subtly addressed to government and commercial interests 'in the know' as it were, but not able to divulge without massive international repercussions. This is certainly the situation as regards the events of 9/11. Despite the low key nature of this incident, there are still sufficient tell-tale signs to make me wary of the cause and the true nature of the incident. Will the investigation be rigorous and reliable wherever it leads?