Deutsche Bahn Halts Germany Trains After GSM-R Failure, Offering Taxi and Hotel Vouchers
Updated
Updated · The Associated Press · Jun 23
Deutsche Bahn Halts Germany Trains After GSM-R Failure, Offering Taxi and Hotel Vouchers
3 articles · Updated · The Associated Press · Jun 23
Summary
Late Tuesday, Deutsche Bahn kept all trains at stations across Germany after a nationwide GSM-R communications failure stranded passengers and stopped rail traffic.
About 1 1/2 hours after first announcing the outage, the operator said it had identified the cause but gave no details and no timeline for restoring service.
CEO Evelyn Palla told Bild the immediate goal was to move trains into stations so travelers could disembark; Deutsche Bahn also promised taxi and hotel vouchers and waiting space on available trains.
GSM-R is the rail network’s standard voice-and-data link between drivers and control centers, making it critical to safe operations across Germany and much of Europe.
Nationwide rail stoppages in Germany are rare and have previously been tied mainly to storms rather than a technical communications breakdown.