Traffic
Cable thieves partially paralyze train traffic in the Ruhr area
Cable thieves paralyzed train traffic in parts of the Ruhr area and northern North Rhine-Westphalia for hours. photo
© Federico Gambarini/dpa
Thieves stole 25 meters of cable from a railway line in Bochum – with serious consequences. Trains had to stop and Bochum main station was completely closed for hours.
Cable thieves caused massive problems with train traffic in the morning Ruhr area and beyond. As a result of the theft during the night, signals and switches around Bochum could no longer be set, and radio communication between trains and signal boxes was temporarily interrupted, as a railway spokesman said. Trains therefore had to stop at the next station at night for safety reasons. The damage was only completely repaired by midday, so that local and long-distance trains could travel on the normal routes through the Ruhr area again.
While the situation in Münsterland returned to normal during the night, Bochum main station remained closed during rush hour. Long-distance trains were rerouted – in some cases only the stop in Bochum was canceled, but in other cases ICEs also avoided the Ruhr area and therefore did not stop in Düsseldorf, Duisburg and Essen. There were also cancellations and diversions in regional transport and S-Bahn trains. By midday, technicians managed to repair the severed cables.
Two men arrested red-handed
During the night, three men cut out around 25 meters of cable not far from Bochum main station. Because this resulted in an error message being reported to the railway, the federal police were quickly at the scene. Two men, aged 53 and 50, were arrested and the third was able to escape, said a federal police spokeswoman. He is being searched for. It is assumed that the perpetrators were after the valuable metal in the cables – there is no evidence of deliberate sabotage of railway operations.
The impact of the theft on rail traffic was massive: train drivers could not reach the signal boxes and were therefore not allowed to continue driving for safety reasons. According to Deutsche Bahn, the disruption had a total impact on around 20 passenger transport lines. The railway was initially unable to say exactly how many trains and passengers were affected.
Cable thefts always cause problems
Cable thefts in the railway network repeatedly lead to restrictions in train traffic. Two simultaneous cable thefts in autumn 2022 in Herne and Berlin had particularly big consequences. As a result, rail traffic in large parts of northern Germany came to a standstill for hours because the train radio no longer worked. The Federal Prosecutor’s Office then even investigated the suspicion that it could be a targeted sabotage of the railway.