Suspected arson: Berlin rail traffic disrupted until next week

Rail traffic in and around Berlin has been severely disrupted following a fire in a cable shaft. The railway is said to have been damaged and the federal police are investigating. Repair work is expected to continue over the weekend.

Long-distance, regional and light rail traffic in Berlin has been severely restricted since Friday morning following a fire in a cable shaft in the Jungfrau Region. Deutsche Bahn expects the situation to continue until next week. The company announced this on Friday afternoon. Railway technical experts are therefore working to repair the damage as quickly as possible.

“As a number of cables are affected, repair work will continue over the weekend,” it continued, “and train traffic is expected to be restricted until early next week.”

Left-wing extremists admit

A few hours after the arson, a letter of responsibility from a left-wing extremist appeared online. The Internet platform “Indymedia” stated that the German railway network is “part of NATO’s military infrastructure.” The purpose of the arson attack is to “undermine war and colonialism.” It is not clear whether the confession letter is true.

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Just 40 years after the invention of the electric locomotive, the Berlin Railway began to say goodbye to steam locomotives. On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the S-Bahn, the German Technical Museum is now exhibiting the original S-Bahn from 1924. By Frank Dreschermore

According to the railway department, some turnouts and turnout controllers were inoperable. The statement said that according to preliminary investigations, technical reasons have been ruled out.

The section between the main station and Spandau is affected. Long-distance trains that stop at both stations will be rerouted via the Norder Ring to Gesundbrunnen. This eliminates the stop in Spandau.

There are also diversions, delays and cancelled stops in regional traffic. Trains on the RB14 line between Nauen and Südkreuz have been cancelled, as have trains on the RB21 line between Spandau and Gesundbrunnen and the RE6 line between Charlottenburg and Hennigsdorf. Trains on the RE4 line will be diverted between Ludwigsfelde and Spandau. The RB10 line is also not running as planned.

On the Berlin S-Bahn, the ring lines S41 and S42 are discontinued between Westend and Gesundbrunnen. There are alternative bus services.

Hundreds of long-distance, regional and light rail trains, as well as freight trains, have been severely delayed or cancelled since the overnight disruptions, the report said. The impact could even be felt across the country, mainly through delays.

According to police, the Deutsche Bahn control center informed the federal police about the disruption of rail operations between Jungfernheide and Beusselstrasse stations at around 3 a.m. Federal police forces searched the affected area and found a fire in a cable shaft near Neues Ufer. The fire department was then alerted.

According to the fire department, five metres of cables were burned on the railway embankment between Beusselstrasse and Jungfernheide stations. The light rail spoke about the vandalism on its website. A federal police spokesman told rbb that an investigation into suspected arson was underway.

The railways ask you to avoid the Jungfernheide area and take the BVG instead.

Broadcast: rbb24 Inforadio, August 2, 2024 at 8:04 am