Last week, long-distance traffic on the railway line between Hamburg and Berlin was disrupted due to suspected attacks. How can the transport infrastructure be better protected?
In view of the alleged attacks on railway infrastructure, the police union (GdP) is calling for the use of drones to monitor routes. “The Federal Police needs modern surveillance technology such as drones, motion sensors and camera surveillance along the route,” said the chairman of the Federal Police District of the GdP, Andreas Roßkopf, to the Editorial Network Germany (RND).
“It is also necessary to protect particularly sensitive sections of the route – high-speed lines and track crossings – with fences that are electronically secured. We also need camera surveillance on all long-distance trains.”
Cable ducts set on fire
According to the police, cable shafts on railway lines were set on fire in three places in the Hamburg city area on Friday night. Deutsche Bahn’s long-distance traffic between Hamburg and Berlin was severely affected. A letter of responsibility appeared on the left-wing platform Indymedia.
Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) had assured that the perpetrators would be identified and that railway lines would be better protected. Video surveillance should therefore be expanded by increasing the number of cameras on railway systems from 9,000 to 11,000.
SPD parliamentary group deputy Detlef Müller stated that the rail network had security gaps that needed to be closed. Access to cables should be made more difficult for third parties by laying them underground in cable ducts that are difficult to access during maintenance work or during new construction and expansion. At the same time, Müller made it clear that 100% protection of the rail network could not be guaranteed. “We can’t fence in the entire route network like an allotment, but we need a realistic look,” said the SPD politician.
Union demands consequences
The Union had previously called on the federal government to act. Union parliamentary group vice-president Ulrich Lange (CSU) said that the arson attack on the railway line from Hamburg to Berlin showed that transport, as a critical infrastructure, is much more vulnerable than expected.
“What’s worrying is that we’re seeing such attacks more and more often. Luckily, we’ve escaped with a black eye so far because no one was harmed. But one thing is clear: we need quick and targeted measures before something worse happens.” The traffic light government must act quickly. Lange first commented on the editorial network in Germany.
For a long time, the federal government asked in a parliamentary question to what extent, according to the federal government’s knowledge, there were disruptions in train traffic in 2022 and 2023 as a result of damaged fiber optic cables.
The Ministry of Transport replied that, according to information from Deutsche Bahn AG, it currently does not have a separate overview of damage specifically to fiber optic cables. Accordingly, the Federal Government does not have any information relevant to the question. Lange called this a “joke.” The Ministry of Transport must take action to launch a well-thought-out and effective concept for protecting the transport infrastructure.
Source: Stern
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