Staff refuse to stop train to reunite mother and child

GERMAN railway officials refused to heed a mother's pleas to halt an express with her two-year-old aboard alone - because the train had to run on time.

Marie Luise Kracht, two, sat alone as the train sped through the countryside near Berlin for an hour while a police car raced to catch it up.

Ulrike Kracht, 19, had pleaded with Deutsche Bahn staff to stop the train after its automatic doors closed at a station. She was unloading her possessions and pushchair before returning for Marie Luise when her way was blocked and the train began pulling away.

Ms Kracht said: "It was the worst moment of my life. I heard Marie Luise shout, 'Mama!' and she was gone."

She said when she asked station staff to radio ahead to stop the train, they said: "We can't do that. It must run on schedule."

The child was alone and terrified for an hour until the train halted in Neurippin.

Deutsche Bahn has promised to carry out an inquiry.