Train services disrupted in Germany due to storms

Clean-up work has been underway on Germany's railway network following major storm damage. 

Early on Tuesday morning, a Deutsche Bahn (DB) spokesperson said most services were running normally again - but passengers may still see some continued disruption.

The Hamburg-Berlin ICE line was temporarily closed due to the stormy weather on Monday. A tree landed on the track near Dergenthin between Ludwigslust and Wittenberge, resulting in ICE trains being halted.

According to DB, the line was reopened to train traffic on one track at around 11:30 pm on Monday night. The second track is not yet open so there may still be some delays.

Local and regional trains in Schleswig-Holstein were severely disrupted for several hours on Monday due to the weather. The RE6 (Hamburg-Altona - Westerland (Sylt)) trains continued to run at a reduced speed on Tuesday morning, which will result in delays. Services are also starting and ending in Elmshorn.

Trains on the RE7 (Flensburg/Kiel Hbf - Hamburg Hbf) and RE70 (Kiel Hbf - Hamburg Hbf) lines are running as scheduled. Regional services between Ahrensburg and Bargteheide resumed during the night, DB said.

According to DB, travellers in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and Lower Saxony can expect few restrictions as most routes are open again after storm damage.

However, there may still be some weather-related disruption in parts of NRW. Individual sections of track in the Rhineland and Ruhr region are still closed, and replacement bus services are in place. Some sections have been reduced to one track. 

According to DB, there were also diversions and delays to long-distance services on Monday, including between Cologne and Aachen and Cologne and Düsseldorf.

Heavy winds and snow forecast

After a stormy start to the week in many places, the German Weather Service (DWD) is again expecting some strong winds on Tuesday.

Gusts of wind with speeds of around 85 kilometres per hour are forecast on the coasts and in the mountains, as well as heavier squalls in some places. On the North Frisian Islands and on the Brocken there could also be hurricane-force gusts.

Meanwhile, the weather will remain wet in large parts of the country. Showers are expected, especially in central areas, with snow above 400 to 700 metres.

After flurries of snow at the weekend in many places, it is forecast to get colder again later this week and more snow at lower levels is expected to hit. 

Vocabulary 

Clean-up work/clean-up efforts - (die) Aufräumarbeiten 

Closed - gesperrt

Restriction - (die) Einschränkung

Storm damage - (der) Sturmschaden

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