Leipzig Transport Company (LVB) had asked the public for help. “Leipzig sticks together. Now we need you,” the LVB wrote on its Facebook page. The response was huge: well over 50 men and women came to scrape the compound that had seeped out of the joints from the tracks.
The heat, with temperatures around 40 degrees Celsius, had softened the joint compound. The trams pressed it out and spread it over the rails and switches. For safety reasons, operations were initially halted entirely. LVB employee Stefan Röll estimates that about ten percent of the roughly 304-kilometer network is affected. In addition, around 60 stuck tram cars need to be cleaned.
Since the weekend, about 50 LVB employees have been working around the clock, supported by staff from the city and water utilities. The volunteers received spatulas, safety vests, and knee pads. The tools are heated with blowtorches, then the helpers scrape off the sticky mass and collect it in buckets. The work is painstaking: after minutes, only a few centimeters are done.
Source: www.faz.net
