Berlin — A scheduled component replacement caused a communications outage that halted all German trains, leaving travelers stranded nationwide, the network operator reported on Wednesday amid criticism and questions about the incident.
Deutsche Bahn, the federal railway operator, apologized late Tuesday for the sudden cessation of all services, which brought every train in Germany to a halt. Normal operations resumed gradually after approximately two hours, past midnight.
Lengthy queues materialized at information desks as passengers sought directions to their destinations and accommodations for the night.
Deutsche Bahn announced it was providing taxi and hotel vouchers and, where feasible, arranging temporary train seating for passengers while they waited. However, travelers reported insufficient information, limited hotel availability, and journeys that extended into the night.
The outage stemmed from a fault in the GSM‑R digital communication system employed for internal railway operations.
Deutsche Bahn reported that trains were operating largely normally on Wednesday morning, although residual delays persisted.
Philipp Nagl, head of DB InfraGO’s infrastructure division, indicated that the incident likely resulted from the scheduled replacement of a technical component, though he offered no further details.
“We are scrutinizing with the highest priority how this fault occurred,” Nagl stated, adding that the company apologizes to its customers for the disruption.
The incident followed years of growing complaints regarding train delays and service interruptions.
Deutsche Bahn is undertaking comprehensive, albeit disruptive, overhauls of major routes after years of underinvestment, aiming to improve performance, though substantial improvements are expected to require time.
Germany, the European Union’s most populous nation, operates a railway network of roughly 33,400 km (20,750 mi) encompassing 5,400 stations, with an average of 50,000 trains daily, making it Europe’s largest network, according to DB InfraGO.
“Seeing all rail traffic in Germany cease due to a technical defect represents a new low in the country’s already poor operating quality,” Oliver Krischer, the transport minister for North Rhine‑Westphalia, told dpa.
He emphasized the need for emergency mechanisms to prevent such disasters in the future, noting that people depend on timely rail travel.