All trains in Germany were immobilized at stations on Tuesday evening due to a breakdown in the railway radio communication systems, national rail operator Deutsche Bahn announced. The outage brought municipal, regional, and long-distance trains to a complete halt across the country.
Nationwide Disruption
Deutsche Bahn stated on its website that technicians were working flat out to resolve the disruption, but did not specify how long it would last. The private regional rail company Metropol reported that in the north, trains were completely at a standstill because the railway radio was down on a large scale.
Simon Martens, spokesman for Metronom, which operates regional lines around Hamburg, Bremen, and Hanover carrying more than 120,000 passengers daily, told AFP: "We think that nothing else will be running tonight." Metronom advised customers not to undertake any more train journeys and to seek alternative means of transport.
Impact Across Regions
Berlin’s public transport authority confirmed on X that the outage affects all trains, including municipal, regional, and long-distance services run by Deutsche Bahn. In North Rhine-Westphalia in the west, state police reported that traffic was completely suspended.
Germany has been trying to rapidly modernize its aging rail network with massive public investment after decades of underinvestment, which have led to frequent delays. This technical glitch underscores the challenges facing the country’s railway infrastructure.
