Munich
Roller coaster Eurostar - safety first
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Visitors to this year's Munich Oktoberfest can look forward to whizzing along at 100km per hour on the largest roller coaster in the world. "Eurostar" is certainly Germany's most scary but most exhilarating ride.
It's not necessarily the speed which many will be frightened of - five roller carriages will travel the roller coaster simultaneously, but at a distance from each other!
To ensure maximum safety, the fairground has employed a team of security experts, who combine technical expertise and experience. This includes maintenance staff from the cable cars on the "Zugspitze", Germany's highest mountain. Other specialists come from the "TÜV", short for "Technischer Überwachungsverein", club for technical control, the German equivalent of the MOT. This institution has defined safety regulations in Germany for 125 years, be it cars, buildings, children's toys, kitchen equipment - or roller coasters.
The staff have to be prepared to walk or climb around every part of the track to conduct a security check, which concentrates on the harnesses and brakes. Technicians check the harnesses on each of the rides' 120 seats by hand, whilst two computers operate the braking systems (each carriage has its own). If one computer's information does not match that of the other, the braking system is automatically deactivated to prevent the ride from continuing with a potential fault.
However, for the really faint-hearted, there are also much safer rides at the Oktoberfest, including the good old merry-go-round.
Links
Eurostar roller coaster
Everything you ever wanted to know about the "Eurostar". In German.
Coasters and more
European Coaster club's website. In English.
TÜV Germany
Quality certification, supervision and comprehensive services for everything technical. In English and German.
These links do not constitute
an endorsement by the BBC of the companies, their services or
products. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external
sites.
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