Embankment fire in the Gotha district: rail traffic paralyzed – travelers affected!

Embankment fire in the Gotha district: rail traffic paralyzed – travelers affected!

The traffic chaos on the rail network is currently causing massive inconvenience for travelers in and around Cologne. After an embankment fire between Seebergen and Wandersleben caused disruptions on Wednesday evening, the routes around Cologne are currently also affected. Because of the danger posed by the flames, signaling technology was damaged, which is now leading to significant restrictions on both local and long-distance traffic, such as MDR reported.

The situation is tense: local transport on the Leipzig-Erfurt-Eisenach-Frankfurt route can now only run one train per hour. Travelers who rely on ICE trains are hit particularly hard. These were rerouted via the high-speed route towards Munich and in some cases have to expect delays of around 40 minutes. In addition, IC trains from Gera to Cologne have been completely canceled. Night trains such as NJ425 and NJ408 do not stop in Erfurt, Weimar and Naumburg. Here, too, there is a risk of a delay of up to 60 minutes. On Wednesday, a train was actually affected at the time of the fire, although fortunately the passengers of the damaged train were quickly transferred to another train, as reported by Railway blog post supplemented.

More problems around Cologne

The trouble doesn't stop there: On Thursday, July 26th, another embankment fire in Opladen caused the railway line between Cologne and Wuppertal to be closed for three hours. Here, too, trains on regional lines and long-distance trains had to be rerouted via Düsseldorf, which led to Düsseldorf main station being overloaded. During this time there were also further failures due to a defective switch on the connection between Cologne-Mülheim and Düsseldorf-Benrath.
The problems caused by the embankment fire and the switch disruption are having a noticeable impact on rail traffic in the region.

The picture is made even bleaker by recent acts of sabotage. Loud daily news Cable shafts in Hamburg were set on fire, which led to massive disruptions in long-distance traffic between Hamburg and Berlin. Experts fear that this type of incident could indicate further acts of violence against Deutsche Bahn's infrastructure and pose a serious threat to the safety of travelers. The Federal Transport Minister has already called for strict action by the rule of law and strongly condemned these acts.

Overall, travelers can expect a variety of challenges while the railway works to resolve the various disruptions. Please check regularly for changes and possible compensation as the situation can change at any time.