The all-clear comes after midnight: After hours of chaos, trains are running again on all S-Bahn lines in Munich. Deutsche Bahn had previously cautiously pointed out that the situation at Munich Central Station was also normalizing: “Long-distance and regional trains can approach the main station again,” the company announced late on Thursday evening.
However, traffic is unlikely to run smoothly again for all commuters and travelers. For the S-Bahn, you have to expect delays and short-term train cancellations in the entire network.
Early on Friday morning, the railway reported cancellations on lines S2, S3 and S8: Some (S3) or all 10-minute trains on these routes will be canceled in the morning. The reason given is the “consequences of yesterday’s repair of the overhead line”.
At the main station itself, train traffic resumed during the night. The following applies to long-distance and regional traffic: things should largely go according to plan, but cancellations and delays are to be expected. During the night, the company pointed out for the connection between Munich and Nuremberg that there might not be enough trains and that they should check shortly before the start of the journey whether anything was running at all.
In the morning, the railway lists the following connections as canceled:
- RE 3 / 4053 Passau Hbf departure 5:23 a.m. – Munich Hbf arrival 7:36 a.m
- RE 3 / 4056 Munich Hbf departure 6:03 a.m. – Passau Hbf arrival 8:35 a.m
- RE 50 / 4851 Regensburg Hbf departure 6:24 a.m. – Munich Hbf arrival 7:58 a.m
- RB 33 / 59237 Landshut(Bay)Hbf Departure 6:33 a.m. – Munich Hbf Arrival 7:42 a.m
- RB 16 / 59194 Munich Hbf Departure 6:06 a.m. – Pfaffenhofen(Ilm) Arrival 6:34 a.m
- RB 16 / 59179 Pfaffenhofen(Ilm) Departure 6:45 a.m. – Arrival Munich Hbf 7:22 a.m.
You can find out how Munich’s S-Bahn trains currently operate at www.s-bahn-muenchen.de/fahr/betriebslage and whether the local trains in Bavaria are currently running can be found here: regional.bahn.de/regionen/bayern/fahrplan/aktuelle_betriebslage
Suspect: an excavator in Munich-Laim
What’s happened? Apparently, on Thursday, an excavator during construction work on the second S-Bahn trunk line in the Munich-Laim area damaged a complete transverse structure that spans the overhead lines over all tracks on the line. As a result, the important route between the main station and Munich-Pasing has been closed since Thursday afternoon. Long-distance and regional traffic as well as traffic on the S-Bahn main line were completely stopped with a few exceptions. It was not possible to reach Munich Central Station for a long time. The consequence: chaos in and around the main train station, long queues for trams and taxis, annoyed and desperate travelers.
And the train? “We expressly apologize for the inconvenience caused to your passengers,” it said on Thursday. After all, all passengers who had to postpone their planned trip due to damage to the overhead line can use their ticket at a later date. “The train connection has been lifted,” the railway announced. The ticket is also valid with a changed route until the journey to the destination. Seat reservations could be canceled free of charge. Further information on possible compensation claims is available online at www.bahn.de/service/information-buchung/fahrgastrechte.
If you want to find something positive: the repair work on the overhead line progressed faster than planned, it could have been even worse.