Status: 02/21/2022 04:01 a.m
It looks particularly bad on the ICE route between Hamburg and Hanover. But elsewhere, too, the damage is greater than assumed. In NRW, Berlin and Brandenburg, rail traffic is stopped again due to a new storm.
The severe storms “Ylenia” and “Zeynep” have caused significant damage to the railway network in the past few days. “The ongoing series of storms has hit Deutsche Bahn even harder than we have seen in the meantime,” said Deutsche Bahn spokesman Achim Stauss.
“We had enormous damage to the railway lines over a length of about 6,000 kilometers.” This would have resulted in further reconnaissance trips and helicopter flights. “Currently, around 900 kilometers of our route network are impassable,” Stauß continued.
Restrictions until at least Monday afternoon
The train advised to postpone travel to and from Hamburg as much as possible. There were no long-distance trains between Hamburg and Berlin, between Berlin/Hamburg and Rostock/Stralsund, and between Norddeich Mole/Emden and Cologne/Hannover, it said on Sunday. However, other routes have been reopened. A reliable prognosis for the further course is not possible – also because of the approaching further storm “Antonia”.
Impairments were expected until at least Monday afternoon. “We can currently drive about three quarters of long-distance traffic in Germany, but the north and north-east are still badly hit and will be the same on Monday,” said Stauss. According to Bahn information, there are still many train cancellations in regional traffic.
The train advised passengers to contact the free hotline before boarding 08000 99 66 33 to inform. The period for the goodwill arrangement, which allows free cancellation or flexible use of tickets already purchased up to seven days after the end of the disruption, had already been extended to tickets valid up to and including Monday.
2000 emergency services for damage repair in use
According to Bahn, around 2,000 emergency services are on duty around the clock to remove fallen trees and repair overhead lines. In view of the volume, however, this can only be done step by step. “Since the series of storms, the clearing squads have been working tirelessly to repair routes,” says Stauss. This work would be hampered by adverse weather conditions. “We’re doing everything we can to repair the damage as quickly as possible,” he said.
“There is extreme damage on the railway line between Hanover and Hamburg. The storm hit particularly hard there. The catenary masts were not only damaged there, but some of them were torn out of their anchorage with their concrete foundations. We have to completely reposition the masts there,” so jam.
Bahn stops regional traffic in NRW
Because of the new storm “Antonia”, the railway in North Rhine-Westphalia once again stopped regional traffic on Sunday evening. On Monday morning, S-Bahn and regional trains should run again, but the routes would have to be checked for damage beforehand. Passengers should therefore be informed about their connections, according to the train.
Metronome is gradually shutting down train services again
The railway also expects regional traffic in North Baden, Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland to be affected by Monday afternoon. In Thuringia, Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt, rail traffic will probably remain restricted until Monday afternoon. Due to the expected storm in parts of Bavaria and restrictions on train traffic, some of the lessons in the Lower Franconian district of Miltenberg are to be canceled this Monday. The background to this is that the West Franconia Railway will stop train services on the entire route network from Sunday evening to Monday morning, according to the Bavarian Ministry of Education.
There are also new restrictions in Lower Saxony: The railway company Metronom announced that from Sunday evening at 9 p.m. no more trains from Metronom, Enno and Erixx would be on the road. The company mainly serves routes in Lower Saxony. An emergency bus service is expected to last until Monday afternoon.
No regional traffic in Berlin at night
In Berlin and Brandenburg, too, the railways will again completely stop regional traffic on Sunday evening, it said. The reason here is also storm depression “Antonia”.
In the past few days, the hurricanes “Ylenia” and “Zeynep” had caused fatal accidents and immense damage. According to initial estimates, the two storms are likely to cost insurers more than 1.4 billion euros.