Cologne Hotels
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Runaway Train
Entry 54 of 61 | show all | print this entry |
Last night Steve and I went to the Dropkick Murphy´s concert here in Cologne. Since the concert was held at the Palladium, which is several miles away from where we live, we had to take a thirty-minute train ride to get there. We got on at a train stop fairly close to our apartment and arrived in the vicinity of the concert hall in time to eat dinner before the show. But the return trip was a bit of an adventure to say the least.
By the time the concert ended it was close to 12:30 a.m. Since the trains here stop running after 1:00 a.m. during the week, we were afraid that we might not catch a train back home. Having gotten lost trying to find the Palladium, we weren´t sure how long it would take us to even find the train station once we left the concert. Fortunately, we arrived at the station in plenty of time to catch the train and were relieved to find that the trains ran until 2:00 a.m.
Once we got on the train, we settled in for our thirty minute trip back. Since this was a different line than what we were used to taking, the stops were different as well. We also noticed that the distance between stops was much greater than the Number 1Train that we normally take. Keeping this in mind, we paid close attention to the announcements to make sure that we didn´t miss our stop.
When our stop finally came, we walked to the doors and waited for them to open like we always do. But when they didn´t open, we became quite concerned. We pushed the button on the doors, which automatically triggers them to open if they don´t open on their own, but nothing happened. We tried several other doors and none of them would open either. Before we knew it, the train started moving. We were on our way to the next stop and we couldn´t get off the train.
At the next stop, we stood by the doors and waited for them to open. But along with every other door on the train, they wouldn´t budge. We were trapped on the train and that´s when the fear and anxiety set in (at least for me anyway). Steve started freaking out and began yelling at the train conductor to stop the train. I started to panic because Steve was so upset. And my fear of confined spaces finally took control over me. I was having a panic attack. We are now more than a mile away from the stop we were supposed to get off at and we are heading out of the city on a runaway train.
While Steve continued yelling at the train conductor, I frantically began pushing buttons on all of the doors hoping to get the conductor´s attention. Then all of the sudden, the train came to screeching halt. It stopped so fast that I almost flew over a row of seats in front of me. Steve had pulled the emergency brake on the wall. The minute the train stopped...the doors opened. We jumped off the train onto the railroad tracks and quickly made our way out of sight.
As we were walking away, we could here the conductor yelling something in German over the loud speaker. He was clearly irate. Though we felt bad for pulling the emergency brake, he really left us with no other choice. The cameras on the train showed him exactly what was going on and he knew we were trying to get off of the train. He was either playing games with us, or my worst fear...someone was playing games with him (i.e. someone else was controlling the train).
Whatever the case may be, we made it home safely and that was the important thing. I don´t know how long the train sat on the tracks after we jumped off, but I imagine it was quite some time. I´m sure the transit authorities were called and the whole nine yards. In my opinion, it served him right. Maybe next time he´ll pay closer attention to his passengers. Clearly our track record riding trains here in Germany isn´t very good and I surely hope that this is the last of our adventures. But if it isn´t and we ever find ourselves on a runaway train again...we´ll know how to make it stop!
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