Rail traffic in northern Germany was interrupted on the 8th due to intentional damage, and a large number of passengers were trapped at the railway station. The incident happened just over two weeks after the devastating attack on the natural gas pipelines of the " Nord Stream-1" and " Nord Stream-2" connecting Russia and Germany, which triggered discussions on infrastructure security in Germany. German media said that the security of critical infrastructure has become the top priority of Germany's political agenda.
According to Deutsche News Agency on the 8th, railway traffic in northern Germany was paralyzed early that morning, a large number of passengers were trapped at the train station, queuing in long queues near the service window, and the display screen in the waiting hall showed that the train was delayed or cancelled in full screen. German Federal Railways blamed the network disruption on radio communication technology issues earlier in the day. German " Spiegel " weekly said that the communication system was closed at around 6:40 local time on the 8th. At around 11 o'clock, DB Railway Company posted on Twitter that railway traffic has been partially restored, but warned that trains will still be cancelled or delayed. The train interruption affected railway services in Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein, Bremen and Hamburg, and also affected international railway transportation from Germany to Denmark and Netherlands .
German Federal Minister of Transport Vyssin said at a press conference on the afternoon of the 8th that cables from two different locations in Germany were deliberately cut off, and the safety mechanism was immediately activated. This is a "malicious and targeted" act of vandalism, but the identity and motivation of the host behind the scenes are still unclear. German police said on the 9th that it is not ruled out that the savages have political motives, but there is no indication that any foreign forces or terrorists are involved.
According to the official information, cable failures were initially identified in North Rhine-Westphalia and Berlin. A DB Railway spokesman issued a statement later in the day saying that the target of the destruction was DDB Railway's in-vehicle wireless network, which was used for communication between trains and the control center responsible for managing railway traffic, and was "critical for the smooth operation of services." German Biography said the attacks included backup systems preset to respond to emergencies, which further proved that the damage was done by experienced or trained perpetrators.
This is not the first time that the German Railway has been destroyed, and a case in 2020 also caused a sensation. At that time, a man loosened more than 250 screws on the tracks of the Frankfurt-Cologne intercity express train, but fortunately the train driver discovered it in time and did not cause any tragedy. On June 3 this year, a train derailed in Bavaria, Germany, killing five people. The Munich procuratorate launched an investigation into three German Railway employees on suspicion of manslaughter. "Deutsche Welle" mentioned that in recent years, due to the aging of infrastructure, DB Railway has become increasingly famous due to train delays and cancellations.
The British Financial Times said that the destruction of the German railway occurred just over two weeks after the destructive attack on the "North Stream-1" and "North Stream-2" natural gas pipelines connecting Russia and Germany, which triggered discussions on infrastructure security in Germany. The German Mercury newspaper Munich published an article on the 9th saying that the railway destruction incident raised two core questions: Who did it? How fragile is Germany’s critical infrastructure? German Daily said that after the damage to the "North Stream" natural gas pipeline, the security of critical infrastructure has become the top priority of Germany's political agenda. After the railway destruction incident, the Green Party in the German ruling coalition once again requested funds from the Federal Defense Forces Special Fund to protect Germany's critical infrastructure. Green Party co-chairman Nuripur said anyone who attacks Germany's critical infrastructure will receive a "decisive response". ▲
Our newspaper’s special correspondent in Germany Qingmu Our newspaper’s special correspondent Mu Zhi
