Storm chaos in North Rhine-Westphalia: rail traffic is slowly getting back on track!

Rail traffic in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) has largely returned to normal after the significant damage caused by a storm. The clean-up work on local and regional transport is almost complete, with most routes now operable again, as a spokesman for Deutsche Bahn (DB) announced. However, some individual routes continue to be affected, often due to fallen trees blocking the track area.

For example, the S12 between Blankenberg (Sieg) and Eitorf only runs on one track because a tree fell on the tracks. The regional route between Welver and Soest can only be used on a single track because a tree damaged the overhead line. In addition, the RB 52 regional train between Lüdenscheid-Brügge and Lüdenscheid is canceled, as is the S9 between Wuppertal main station and Essen main station. A replacement bus service was set up for the affected routes.

Detailed impact of the storm

On the afternoon of the storm, it caused chaos in rail traffic as numerous routes were inaccessible due to fallen trees and damaged overhead lines. In Welver, 360 passengers had to be evacuated from a regional train because a tree fell on the overhead line. In Bergisch-Gladbach-Gronau, a train driver on S-Bahn line 11 was able to bring his train to a halt in time in front of a fallen tree.

The surveys showed that severe to hurricane-like winds of over 100 km/h were measured in the affected regions, especially in East Westphalia, Sauerland and Siegerland, with the highest value of 117 km/h in Porta Westfalica. Numerous storm-related operations were recorded in cities such as Krefeld and Bochum; In Krefeld alone, 50 missions were documented by evening.

The A560 near Hennef had to be closed in both directions because parts of the noise barrier had come loose, but this closure was lifted during the night. Late in the evening the wind speed in North Rhine-Westphalia was no longer over 100 km/h and the situation gradually improved.

Overall, the accumulation of weather events and the subsequent operations of the emergency services have shown how important it is to prepare for and respond to such storm situations in order to ensure safety in rail and road traffic. Loud WDR However, it could take until the late evening hours for regional traffic to function smoothly again, while the situation in long-distance traffic has already stabilized.