Deutsche Bahn is hit by suspected sabotage

The incident piles more woe onto Europe’s biggest railway

08 October 2022, Lower Saxony, Hanover: An ICE train is parked at Hanover central station on a deserted platform that is partly blocked by barrier tape. Long-distance traffic in northern Germany has come to a standstill. According to Deutsche Bahn, a technical malfunction is currently causing a complete standstill in long-distance traffic in northern Germany. All ICE and IC and EC trains in northern Germany are affected, the railroad announced on Saturday morning. Photo: Moritz Frankenberg/dpa

Oct 13th 2022|BERLIN

Weeks after explosions caused leaks from Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2, two undersea gas pipelines linking Russia and Germany, another act of suspected sabotage rocked Europe’s biggest economy. On October 8th Deutsche Bahn (db), the state-owned rail giant, said it needed to suspend all services in northern Germany for around three hours. Damage to cables indispensable for rail traffic had led to a breakdown of its wireless communication system. The incident left thousands of passengers stranded on a Saturday morning.

This article appeared in the Business section of the print edition under the headline “Derailed”