Deutsche Bahn communication system failure causes nationwide train halt

(Taipei, June 24, CNA) Deutsche Bahn, the state-owned German railway company, announced that due to a failure in its railway wireless communication system, all trains nationwide were halted at stations this evening, leaving passengers stranded across the country.

According to statements from Agence France-Presse and the Associated Press, Deutsche Bahn stated on its official website, "Our technical staff are working around the clock to repair and resolve the issue."

Deutsche Bahn board member Evelyn Palla told "Bild," "We are working to get trains into stations so passengers can disembark, and then we will address the problem."

The incident led to long queues of passengers at information desks in some stations as they sought alternative ways to reach their destinations.

In northern Germany, a private regional railway company also reported that its northern trains were "completely paralyzed" due to a widespread failure of the railway wireless communication system.

Simon Martens, a spokesperson for the private operator Metronom, told AFP, "We do not expect any more trains to run tonight." The company has advised passengers, "Please do not travel by train today," and recommended using alternative transportation.

Metronom primarily operates regional train routes around cities in northern Germany such as Hamburg, Bremen, and Hanover, transporting over 120,000 passengers daily.

The public transport authority in the capital, Berlin, stated on the social media platform X that the outage affected all trains, including city, regional, and Deutsche Bahn long-distance services.

Police in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia reported that rail traffic in the region had been completely suspended.

Approximately two hours after the incident was reported, parts of the rail network began to resume service.

Deutsche Bahn has faced decades of underinvestment, leading to frequent train delays. Authorities are currently undertaking a large-scale public investment initiative to rapidly upgrade the aging railway network. (Compiled by Tsai Chia-min) 1150624

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