Bild: Keystone
Bild: Keystone
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Local News Summary of November, 30th

  • Major disruption caused after ICE train derails at Basel SBB
  • More than 150 drivers banned from the road during motorway speed trap near Basel
  • Opening of «Fähri-Läädeli» shop secured thanks to successful crowd-funding
  • Roger Federer helps his old club to build a new hall

Major disruption caused after ICE train derails at Basel SBB

Thousands of passengers across the region had their journeys disrupted after a Deutsche Bahn train derailed at Basel's SBB train station on Wednesday afternoon.

The derailment happened during the rush-hour commute on Wednesday afternoon, paralysing major parts of the North-West Switzerland rail network and cancelling trains.  

The ICE train was approaching the SBB station from Hamburg when three carriages hit a signal, causing it to fall onto overhead wires. This caused a power-cut at the SBB which lasted for around 90 minutes and caused major disruption to the network. Train journeys to Freiburg in Germany were cancelled as well as other long distance trains.

The disruption also affected hundreds of evening commuters in Basel, who instead took trams to other stations in the city where they were able to board trains to get to their destinations. 

Around 500 passengers who had been travelling on the Hamburg to Basel train were safely evacuated. Nobody was injured in the incident.

The traffic police have launched an investigation into the cause of the accident, which hit the headlines in the national and international media.

More than 150 drivers banned from the road during motorway speed trap near Basel

A total of 157 drivers were fined and received driving bans during a speed trap procedure on the A5 motorway near Basel on Wednesday morning. The inspection took place over three-and-a-half hours at a construction site between two lorry parking areas, where the speed limit is 60km/h.

The German police checked the speed of 3,200 vehicles and found that 700 (22 per cent) were travelling above the speed limit. A police spokesperson said Swiss drivers were among those caught in the speed trap. Many of the drivers received fines, while complete bans were issued if the speed had been exceeded by at least 41 km/h. The top speed measured by the camera was 114 km/h - 54 km/h above the limit.

Opening of «Fähri-Läädeli» shop secured thanks to successful crowd-funding

A new shop called «Ferry Tales» is to open on the site of the former «Condomeria» at Rheinsprung, and the owner says it is all thanks to the generosity of others. 

Maria Taubic is delighted and says there are «no more obstacles» to her dream of opening her own shop. The bubbly 29-year-old, who is a trainee ferry-woman, has been planning to open the tourist shop since last summer. The project has officially received a building permit, and the success of a crowd-funding campaign means it will open in February 2018.

Ms Taubic had originally just wanted to rent the flat above the former «Condomeria» when she took a spontaneous decision to open a shop. One thing led to the other and she eventually handed in her concept for «Ferry Tales» on the ground floor of the building. 

Besides paper models and magnets displaying the ferry, an assortment of ferry games and jigsaws as well as other ferry souvenirs and tickets will be sold, as well as coffee by Heanowitz & Page and snacks. «We will sell everything which is needed for a few nice hours at the Rhine», she said. Ms Taubic has received support from the «Fähriverein» (ferry association), the cult-platform «Verschwundenes Basel» (vanished Basel), and «locaholic».

The original plan was to open the shop in September but the planning application delayed the project: a water supply and a sink had to be installed in the shop first. Maria Taubic submitted the application and sought financial support for the compulsory conversion on the crowd-funding platform «wemakeit».

She was delighted to have reached her goal and yesterday announced that the conversion works can start. The authorities have confirmed that no objections to the proposal have been submitted. As soon as she has the written confirmation in her hands, the conversion works can begin.

«I have received mostly positive feedback,» she said. Some criticised the name for not being «Basel enough», however Ms Taubic had a suggestion for these people. «Those who don't like the name Ferry Tales can call it Fähri-Läädeli», she proposed. The name was invented by her mother: «’Ferry Tales’ reminds of the well-known Basel saying ‘Verzell Du das am Fährimaa’ («just tell it to the ferry-man»), so there was no other option.»

The crowd-funding action will end on Monday. «We still have some goodies to give away,» said Maria Taubic, e.g. two places on the ferry on 31st December during the fireworks for New Year's Eve. The creative ferry woman has a special idea: «If someone wants to make a marriage proposal, this would be a perfect opportunity. There is also a picnic-basket, and of course I can make everything personal.» For Maria Taubic, a dream has comes true. Thanks to this ferry tale story, maybe two lovers will soon experience the most romantic marriage proposal in Basel. 

Roger Federer helps his old club to build a new hall

Roger Federer, former junior player with the Old Boys Tennis Club, is helping to raise the 1,3 million Swiss francs needed to build a new tennis hall at Schützenmatte. 

The amount Roger Federer will contribute has not been disclosed. However, the members of the tennis club have collectively raised 700,000 francs towards the project. It has also been made clear that Federer would not meet the remaining among of 600,000 francs on his own, according to Swiss broadcasting company SRF. 

Contact to the world tennis star was established by his former doubles partner, Mario Chiudinelli. Federer promised to make a financial contribution but gave it only on the condition that other major investors got involved in the project.