More than 200 traffic lights in the entire city of Munich failed for hours on Thursday. According to a spokesman for Stadtwerke München (SWM), the cause could be a weather-related fault on the Stadtwerke’s high-voltage line between Föhring and Moosburg. He spoke of a voltage fluctuation in the frequency that did not lead to a direct power failure, but to which sensitive computers reacted that controlled the traffic lights in the state capital.
Stadtwerke employees are on their way to look at the presumed cause and take any measures. There is no indication of sabotage, the spokesman said.
The police regulated traffic at more than ten major intersections from the afternoon into the evening hours. A police spokesman said the entire city was affected. These include Orleansplatz and Rosenheimer Strasse in Haidhausen as well as junctions in Giesing. Initially, there were restless to chaotic conditions there. The police had not heard of any accidents caused by the traffic light failures until the evening.