In the morning nothing works on the train in northern Germany because the digital train radio GSM-R fails. First of all, the cause of the failure is unclear. But now it is clear: Apparently it was sabotage. This is confirmed by a railway spokeswoman who is investigating the authorities.
According to Deutsche Bahn, the large-scale failures in train traffic in northern Germany are due to sabotage. Cables were severed, said Transport Minister Volker Wissing in Landau in the Palatinate. The FDP politician spoke of "acts of sabotage". "Cables that are essential for train traffic were willfully and deliberately severed." The federal police are investigating. Wissing did not provide any information on the possible motive. "The background to this act is not yet known."
For more than three hours on Saturday morning, the long-distance and partly also the regional traffic of the Deutsche Bahn failed in large parts of northern Germany. In the course of the morning, the railway reported that the disruption had been rectified, but that there could still be impairments.
The “Bild am Sonntag” had previously reported, with reference to security circles, that the radio system cable connections had either been stolen or intentionally destroyed. "Certain knowledge" is required for this, according to railway circles. According to information from "Spiegel", the disruption is due to an interruption in cable connections. An investigation was launched to determine whether it was a matter of deliberate sabotage or accidental damage.
The problems were due to a fault in the digital train radio GSM-R (Global System for Mobile Communications - Rail), a spokeswoman for Deutsche Bahn initially 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 system is used both for radio communications between control centers and trains and for the digital transmission of timetable data. According to "Spiegel", it is a "central interface between vehicles and infrastructure".
Almost all train traffic in Lower Saxony, Bremen, Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein had been stopped in the morning. The railway referred to a "failure of the digital train radio system". The disruption was remedied in the late morning and train traffic resumed. Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing announced a statement for the afternoon.
