Extensive train stoppage in Germany: – Sabotage
– Sabotage against cables which was this Saturday for the train traffic, that Deutsche Bahn had to stop the trains in the north this morning for almost three hours, the company states.
Transport Minister Volker Wissing states that important cables were destroyed with “knowing and will”.
– It is clear that it was a targeted action, he says, but adds that the motive is not known.
The security authorities have now taken over the investigation, says Deutsche Bahn.
– Requires a certain amount of knowledge
The magazine Der Spiegel refers to sources who say the sabotage was aimed at the GSM-R communication system used in the railway, while the newspaper Billed reports that sabotage on such cables requires “a certain familiarity” with the train system.
Cables must have been cut both outside Berlin and elsewhere in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, according to the report Deutsche Welle.
It was a complete standstill in train traffic for three hours, according to Deutsche Bahn. Many travelers were left sitting and waiting at train stations as rail traffic was largely suspended. Both the states of Lower Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein and Hamburg and Bremen were affected, but other parts of the country were also affected. Among other things, the regional trains between Berlin and the eastern parts of the country were stopped, as well as the route between Berlin and Amsterdam.
– Important to protect infrastructure
The trains between Germany and the Danish cities of Copenhagen and Aarhus stop for the time being in Padborg, in the south of Denmark.
Although traffic resumed after a few hours, Deutsche Bahn warns that there would still be delays and quiet departures beyond Saturday.
It is far from unknown that German trains are canceled or delayed, and Deutsche Bahn has received massive criticism.
But both Nato and the EU have warned that important infrastructure must be protected against possible sabotage after the recent leak from the Nord Stream gas pipeline.