Rescue workers at the site of the train collision near Bad Aibling, Germany, on Tuesday.
Rescue workers at the site of the train collision near Bad Aibling, Germany, on Tuesday.
Both trains in Tuesday's crash had both a driver and a driver instructor on board, said Schreyer. It would be extremely unlikely for both the driver and driver instructor on a train to miss a red signal -- and then for the automatic braking system not to kick in, he said.
"We assume that those signals were green, but we don't know yet," he said.
Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann said at the news conference that at least one of the trains was not running to schedule. "Why they did not stick to the timetable, we don't know. This has to be investigated," he said.
Schreyer said trains were permitted to run at 120 kph, or just under 75 mph, on the line, and he believed they were moving at some speed when they collided.
"I don't think that (they) were on full speed, but looking at what has happened, they have been not very slow, let's say it that way," he said.
"It's really, really rare. We've been running the trains here for 12 years, and we've never had an accident yet.