Due to a cable fire in Hamburg, long-distance traffic nationwide is severely impaired. The disruptions are likely to continue throughout Friday, a spokesman said. There were long queues in front of the information desks at the Hamburg train stations on Friday. Waiting people jostled each other on the platforms.
The cable fire occurred near Sternschanze station on the so-called connecting railway, which runs from Altona via Diebsteich, Sternschanze and Dammtor to the main station. It is one of the busiest routes in Germany. At the moment, only a maximum of three trains per hour can run on the route, the spokesman said. All communication on this route between the interlockings runs via the affected cable, and the switches and signals are controlled via it.
Deutsche Bahn reports restrictions on the following routes:
- ICE trains Kiel/Hamburg – Hanover – Frankfurt/M – Stuttgart/Switzerland are delayed by about 30 minutes in the Hamburg area.
- ICE trains Kiel/Lübeck – Hamburg – Hanover – Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe – Southern Germany are canceled between Northern Germany and Hanover Hbf.
- ICE trains Hamburg – Berlin – Erfurt – Munich run between Hamburg and Berlin only every two hours and are delayed in the Hamburg area by about 30 minutes.
- ICE/IC/EC trains Hamburg – Bremen – Cologne – southern Germany are delayed by about 30 minutes in the Hamburg area or start/end in Hamburg-Harburg instead of Hamburg-Altona.
- IC trains Hamburg – Denmark start/end in Hamburg-Altona.
- EC trains Hamburg – Berlin – Dresden – Prague start/end in Berlin.
There are also restrictions on local transport:
- RE 7 (Kiel Hbf – Hamburg Hbf): The trains end/start in Neumünster.
- RE 70 (Kiel Hbf – Hamburg Hbf): Trains are diverted via Hamburg-Altona.
DB provides information on the current disruptions on its website. Travelers are encouraged to inquire about their connections in advance.
