Storm chaos: rail traffic in Germany severely affected!

Storm damage has a significant impact on rail traffic in Germany. Several railway lines are affected due to fallen trees and other weather-related disruptions. The Hamburg-Berlin ICE route was particularly badly hit, as it was closed in the evening. In Dergenthin (Brandenburg) there is a tree in the track and is causing ICE trains to be held back.

In Schleswig-Holstein, Deutsche Bahn reported travel time extensions of up to 90 minutes. The RE6 regional express between Hamburg-Altona and Westerland (Sylt) will run at reduced speed until 6 a.m. on Tuesday morning. Even in the north, several regional trains cannot travel their entire route. In North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony there are further disruptions to local and regional transport, which were also caused by fallen trees. Zuginfo.NRW reports that there are delays and partial and complete cancellations in local transport in parts of North Rhine-Westphalia due to squalls.

Weather conditions and impacts

After initial storm disruptions, Deutsche Bahn's long-distance traffic is now mostly running normally. However, there are major delays, especially between Nuremberg and Erfurt, with delays of around 75 minutes. According to a report by the Time Most of the storm-related disruptions were resolved during the night. On Monday evening, a severe storm caused significant disruption to long-distance traffic, causing some ICE trains to be delayed by up to four hours. Affected regions included Hesse, Rhineland-Palatinate, Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony.

The storm not only caused delays in traffic, but also caused considerable damage. In Bottrop, a 19-year-old was injured by a falling tree. A man in Hattingen was also injured by a falling tree in a garden. In Cologne, a Kölner Verkehrs-betriebe bus was damaged by a fallen tree and the driver had to be taken to hospital with minor injuries. Three people suffered serious aquaplaning injuries on the A9 in Bavaria when their car rolled over after the driver lost control on wet roads.

There were numerous police and fire service operations in the Rhine-Neckar area due to the damage caused by the storm. The fire brigades in Hesse also reported many operations due to squalls. In Rhineland-Palatinate, ten cars were damaged by falling trees or objects. Falling trees also caused damage to power and telephone lines, leading to brief interruptions. For Tuesday, the German Weather Service (DWD) warned of local continuous rain and light snowfall above 1,000 meters. It was also announced that it could become locally slippery above 800 meters.