On Tuesday night, the German railway network was paralyzed due to a communication system failure, causing all trains nationwide to temporarily suspend operations and leading to passengers being stranded in various locations.
The main state-owned railway operator in Germany, Deutsche Bahn, received the accident report for the first time on Tuesday evening, and then nearly two and a half hours later, around 1 a.m., announced that the problem had been resolved and railway services were gradually being restored.
According to Deutsche Bahn, a nationwide malfunction occurred in the GSM-R digital communication system used internally within its railway network. The company later stated that they had identified the cause of the malfunction, but did not provide specific details.
German newspaper Bild cited Evelyn Palla, the CEO of Deutsche Bahn, reporting that the company had “stabilized the situation through an emergency system.”
During the suspension of services, Deutsche Bahn stated that it was providing affected passengers with taxi vouchers and hotel accommodations, and allowing trains parked at stations to offer temporary rest for passengers where conditions permitted. The company also issued an apology to its customers for the incident.
In recent years, complaints regarding train delays and disruptions in Germany have been increasing.
To improve operational conditions, the state-owned enterprise Deutsche Bahn has begun comprehensive inspections of multiple major railway lines after years of insufficient investment, but these projects have also caused disruptions to operations.
In the past, the German railway system has experienced situations where all or most trains had to temporarily stop running, although these instances are very rare and have been caused by storms rather than technical issues.
GSM-R stands for Global System for Mobile Communications–Railway, which provides voice and data services required for operating railways, including communication between train drivers and control centers.
According to data from the European Union Agency for Railways, GSM-R has been implemented throughout Europe since 2000 as the universal standard for railway operations.