Cable theft disrupts long-distance trains across Germany

A cable theft incident in Gelsenkirchen has brought rail traffic at the city’s railway hub to a standstill and disrupted long-distance services across Germany, Deutsche Bahn said.

Railway signalling and traffic-control systems were completely disabled after cables along the tracks were cut and pulled out at several locations, according to the operator. Police were alerted on Saturday morning and have opened an investigation into suspected cable theft on a section of track in the Gelsenkirchen-Jückendorf area.

The disruption has triggered widespread cancellations and timetable changes on long-distance services. Routes between Dortmund and Munich, Hamburg and Basel, as well as connections from northern Germany to Cologne, have been affected.

Zuginfo.nrw reported that train traffic through the entire Gelsenkirchen rail hub was completely blocked. Deutsche Bahn has not yet given a timetable for repairs.

The incident highlights the vulnerability of railway signalling and control infrastructure to cable theft: the damage was sufficient to disable the systems required to safely manage train movements through the affected area.

By Tamilla Hasanova