Special trip – Special Train is at the subway waiting at Potsdamer Platz in the train station. As the train starts moving, the driver’s voice comes through the loudspeaker: “Dear passengers, what you’ve probably already noticed: today everything is a bit mixed up.” This train isn’t running the way it’s supposed to either. “I’m sorry I can’t say anything nicer to you. But we’d better say it in time so you can change your mind.” If that’s not a service!
The freezing rain did a great job on Monday morning. The sidewalks are as smooth as glass. With little steps, their eyes fixed on the ground, the pedestrians make their way from one strewn island to the next. It had been announced, the German Weather Service had warned. But the fact that it would be so violent was a surprise to many.
The subway, which is almost always reliable, has partially stopped operating on the above-ground routes. Nothing works on the U3 between Breitenbachplatz and Krumme Lanke. There are also significant restrictions on the U2. Traffic is interrupted between Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz and Pankow.
You can follow the rush in the emergency rooms live online
Staff keep watch in the trams
Much harder It affects tram passengers and even more so the staff. Tram service has been completely stopped since 4 a.m. due to icy overhead lines. Many trains were already underway when the freezing rain hit them. Around 40 trams no longer make it to the depot and had to stay in an empty space, as the BVG announced. In some places, drivers stayed in the vehicles for hours to guard them. Some also extended their shifts for this. If that’s not a mission!
Not just the weather service, also the BSR speaks of an “exceptionally strong” freezing rain. The rescue workers feel this immediately. You can follow the rush in the emergency rooms live online. At least the one in the hospitals in Vivantes. The average waiting time for the last six hours, from registration to the first contact with the doctor, can be found on their website online, even when there is no freezing rain.
But it was clearly noticeable that day in an increase in broken bones. “There’s always more going on when there’s black ice,” says Vivante’s spokesman Christoph Lang. Therefore, no more staff will be deployed. The shifts would be decided long in advance.
The waiting times stated on the website vary between 112 minutes (Klinikum Friedrichshain), 78 minutes (Klinikum am Urban) and 67 minutes (Klinikum Neukölln) on Monday afternoon in the city center hospitals. The wait is significantly shorter in the outskirts at the Kaulsdorf Clinic (16 minutes) and the Humboldt Clinic (20 minutes).
Longer waiting times
You can also see on the site how many patients come to the rescue center in an ambulance, and also how many life-threatening emergencies there were. Not everything has to do with the weather, emphasizes the press spokesman. At Vivantes we have the credo: “All patients who feel ill and come to us have the right to be seen by a doctor.” But anyone who has had a sore throat for two weeks should expect that more urgent cases will be brought forward.
The BSR announces that its winter service staff managed to the main roads to make it as passable as possible as early as the morning rush hour. The garbage will not be picked up on Monday due to the extremely slippery conditions on side streets, sidewalks and private property. But that will be done on Tuesday.
“Attention, be careful on the platforms and platforms,” the announcement repeatedly echoes through the subway stations. The weather forecast for the next few days suggests that the slide party is likely to continue for a while. Minus guard at night, around zero during the day.