<img title="Image: http://www.myvivvo.com/thumbnail.php?file=art.train.file.gi_935574333.jpg&amp;size=article_medium" src="http://www.myvivvo.com/thumbnail.php?file=art.train.file.gi_935574333.jpg&amp;size=article_medium" alt="Two fined for German fatal train crash">
										
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								<span>Two train track managers were convicted Friday of involuntary
 manslaughter and fined in connection with a 2006 high-speed train crash
 that killed 23 people.<br><br>The court ruled that the two managers 
failed to take the necessary precautions to protect the test track and 
trains in the northwestern town of Emsland against human error.<br><br>A
 high-speed magnetic levitation, or maglev, train struck a maintenance 
vehicle on an elevated stretch of the track on September 22, 2006. The 
impact sliced open the train, which was traveling at 111 mph. Another 10
 people were injured.<br><br>The managers were charged with indirectly 
causing the deaths by not having required that the maintenance vehicle 
be blocked from the track while a train was on it.<br><br>The Osnabrueck
 state court ruled that Guenter Steinmetz, 67, and Joerg Metzner, 50, 
were guilty of involuntary manslaughter and causing bodily harm through 
negligence. But Judge Dieter Temming said the two were not criminals.<br><br>"The accident was for them a professional catastrophe," Temming said.<br><br>The court imposed fines of $37,800 and $31,500 respectively -- a punishment in line with what prosecutors had sought.<br><br>The
 defense had sought the acquittal of the two men, who denied the 
accusations. Attorneys for both said they would appeal the verdict.<br><br>Prosecutors
 have said they consider a third man -- the traffic controller at the 
time -- the chief suspect. However, proceedings against him were dropped
 because he has received psychological treatment since the accident, and
 is considered mentally unfit to stand trial.<br><br>High-speed maglev 
trains ride on a cushion of magnetism instead of rails, which eliminates
 friction and helps make possible speeds of up to 270 mph.<br><br>The German train was made by Transrapid International, a joint company of Siemens AG and ThyssenKrupp AG.<br><br>Only
 one commercially operated Transrapid stretch has been built so far -- 
in Shanghai, linking the Chinese city's financial district with its 
airport. Efforts to put it into commercial service in Germany have been 
thwarted by cost concerns.</span>
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