German Rail Services Resume After Nationwide IT Outage Brings Trains to a Standstill

By Blessing Nweke

Germany’s national railway operator, Deutsche Bahn, gradually resumed train services late Tuesday after a nationwide IT disruption brought rail traffic across the country to a complete halt for more than two and a half hours.

The outage affected the Global System for Mobile Communication for Railways (GSM-R), a critical digital radio network that enables communication between train drivers and railway traffic control centers. As a safety precaution, all trains were held at stations after the disruption was detected at around 22:30 local time.

The breakdown caused widespread travel chaos, with passengers facing significant delays and cancellations on both long-distance and regional routes. Authorities initially advised travelers to seek alternative forms of transportation as technicians worked to identify and resolve the problem.

In a statement issued after services began recovering, Deutsche Bahn said its IT specialists had successfully fixed the issue. “Our IT experts worked tirelessly to resolve the issue – successfully. The disruption was quickly fixed, and service is now gradually resuming,” the company said, thanking passengers for their patience during the disruption.

Earlier, Deutsche Bahn Chief Executive Officer Evelyn Palla said railway staff were focused on moving trains into stations so passengers could safely disembark.

The railway operator later confirmed that the cause of the outage had been identified, though it did not immediately disclose further details. It also did not specify how many trains or passengers were affected by the incident.

To assist stranded travelers, Deutsche Bahn said it would provide taxi and hotel vouchers where necessary and arrange replacement transportation whenever possible.

The disruption also affected suburban S-Bahn networks, including services in Berlin. Operators later confirmed that the GSM-R outage had been resolved, although passengers were warned to expect lingering delays and cancellations as the network returned to normal operations.