Germany’s rail network brought to standstill amid IT maintenance

Information screens at Munich’s main station advise passengers not to board trains after an IT outage on Tuesday evening. Photograph: Christine Uyanik/Reuters View image in fullscreen Information screens at Munich’s main station advise passengers not to board trains after an IT outage on Tuesday evening. Photograph: Christine Uyanik/Reuters Germany’s rail network brought to standstill amid IT maintenance Deutsche Bahn widely criticised after hundreds of thousands of passengers stranded in operator’s latest setback Germany’s rail network ground to a halt late on Tuesday as a result of maintenance work that went wrong, leaving hundreds of thousands of passengers unable to get home as the national operator faced widespread criticism over the chaos. The Deutsche Bahn (DB) meltdown was initially thought to have been caused by a cyber-attack, but it later emerged that it was likely to have been triggered by a scheduled attempt to replace an ageing component in the railway’s internal communication network, without which the trains are unable to run. Trains were brought to an abrupt halt as a precaution, leaving many stuck on tracks far between stops or standing in stations. Passenger and freight trains were affected. A system reset was carried after two hours, in the early hours of Wednesday, but undoing the chaos took much longer. The railway operator delivered a grovelling apology on Wednesday. “We are analysing the exact cause of the disruption meticulously and with the highest priority, to ensure that the same problem can’t recur,” said Philipp Nagl, the chief executive of DB InfraGO, the state-owned company responsible for railway infrastructure. “Currently it appears the cause of yesterday’s disruption to the GSM-R digital radio system was the planned replacement of a technical component.” The nationwide chaos comes on the back of years of mounting problems with the railway, including frequent delays, cancellations and interruptions. Once the envy of the world, and a byword for efficiency and punctuality, DB has faced growing problems caused by underinvestment and overcapacity. Punctuality stood at just 59% in February, compared with 66% a year ago, with one in three long-distance trains arriving late. At its height in the early 1990s, punctuality was about 85%. View image in fullscreen Commuters in Cologne wait for information about their trains after the IT outage. Photograph: Rolf Vennenbernd/DPA/AP As Germany goes through a period in the economic doldrums, the state of the railways is viewed as a bellwether of the country’s fiscal and structural standing, and is often listed alongside creaking bridges and dilapidated roads and school buildings as an example of the catchup it needs. A pessimistic mood among the population over whether it can succeed is very palpable. The rail network is undergoing a multi-billion-euro overhaul which is leading to further frequent disruption on major routes. DB’s chief executive, Evelyn Palla, has said any signi