Long-distance services operated by Deutsche Bahn on major routes in northern Germany resumed on Sunday morning. However, the operator said that only a reduced timetable is currently in place and that cancellations and partial cancellations may still occur. Several routes, including services to Copenhagen, Amsterdam and Rostock, have not yet resumed. Regional transport in Schleswig-Holstein and Lower Saxony also remains severely restricted.
The railway operator had completely suspended long-distance services in northern Germany on Friday morning due to storm system Elli. Although weather conditions improved on Friday, Deutsche Bahn said drifting snow was still causing problems on Saturday morning. In addition, points were frozen and blocked. As a result, only the connection from Hamburg via Bremen to Osnabrück, North Rhine-Westphalia and Frankfurt was initially reinstated on Saturday.
“Since early this morning, trains have also been running again on the routes Hamburg–Hannover–Kassel–southern Germany, Berlin–Hannover–North Rhine-Westphalia and Hamburg–Berlin, although services are not yet operating at their scheduled capacity,” Deutsche Bahn said. “From midday and over the course of the day, services toward Denmark and the Netherlands, as well as to coastal destinations, are also expected to resume.” These include routes from Berlin to Rostock and Rügen, and from Hannover to Emden.
On high-speed lines from Hannover to Frankfurt, between Wolfsburg and Berlin, and between Cologne and Frankfurt, Deutsche Bahn is also “as a precaution” reducing train speeds. “This may result in delays and missed connections.” In regional transport across Schleswig-Holstein and Lower Saxony, several lines are still not passable, according to the company. “Here, we expect only a gradual increase in services over the course of the day once clearing work has been completed,” Deutsche Bahn said.
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