A sabotage paralyzes the rail network in northern Germany

Oct. 8 () –

The German national train operator, Deutsche Bahn, has attributed the cause of the paralysis this Saturday of much of the rail traffic in northern Germany to sabotage, although most services have already been restored.

“The sabotage of vital cables for train traffic has caused Deutsche Bahn to have to stop traffic this morning in the north for almost three hours,” the railway company has reported.

The authorities of the security forces have already opened an investigation into what happened, according to the German public television ARD. The problem has been located in the failure of the GSM-R digital radio system that is used to communicate each train with the control centers.

The incident has affected long-distance trains and has caused delays and cancellations throughout the north of the country. It has also affected commuter trains in Bremen, Hamburg, Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein.

“Operations will gradually resume, but there are still cancellations and delays due to the incident,” the private operator Metronom reported on Twitter. Metronom operates several regional routes.

Deutsche Bahn has announced that affected travelers will be able to change their ticket for a later date or directly request a refund.