“Due to sabotage of cables, which are indispensable for train traffic, Deutsche Bahn had to stop train traffic in the north for almost three hours this morning,” said a spokeswoman on Saturday. The security authorities had started investigations. The effects on Austrian rail traffic were limited.
The severe problems in northern Germany in the morning were due to a disruption in the digital train radio GSM-R (Global System for Mobile Communications – Rail), the spokeswoman said. “It is used for communication between the control centers that control the train traffic and the trains and is therefore an indispensable component for smooth train traffic.”
The German Minister of Transport, Volker Wissing, also confirmed in a press conference called at short notice that it was a question of sabotage at two different locations. Cables were severed, said the FDP politician. He spoke of “acts of sabotage”. “Cables that are essential for train traffic were willfully and deliberately severed.” Wissing did not provide any information on the possible motive. “The background to this act is not yet known.”
According to Deutsche Bahn, train traffic was canceled on Saturday morning, especially in the federal states of Lower Saxony, Hamburg and Bremen. This affected long-distance as well as regional and freight transport. However, long-distance connections to North Rhine-Westphalia and Berlin, for example, were also affected. In the morning, after a three-hour interruption, railway operations were resumed. The problem has been repaired, it said. “However, impairments are still to be expected,” said Deutsche Bahn.
In recent months there have been repeated attacks on Deutsche Bahn, for example by left-wing extremists. There were also disruptions caused by cable theft. Since the Russian attack on Ukraine and the leaks in the gas pipelines through the Baltic Sea, however, fears of targeted attacks on critical infrastructure in Germany have been growing, including by foreign actors. In the morning, when asked about external influence, the railways said that it was a technical fault
So far, the problems in northern Germany have only had a minor impact on train traffic on Austrian soil. “With a few exceptions, the trains that run to Austria are reliably on schedule,” said the ÖBB press office when asked by APA. Occasionally there were failures or delays of up to 60 minutes.
Source: Nachrichten
