Rail traffic in northern Germany remained severely disrupted on Saturday following winter storm “Elli.” The first long-distance trains on the route from Berlin via Hanover to the Ruhr region were expected to resume service from 10:00 a.m., according to Deutsche Bahn. Additional connections were to follow over the course of the day, though some routes were expected to take longer to reopen.
A number of services were still not operating on Saturday, including routes between Hamburg and Copenhagen, Amsterdam and Hanover, and Rostock and Berlin. Connections from Hamburg to the Ruhr region and to Berlin were expected to restart later in the day.
Regional rail services, particularly in Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein, also remained restricted on Saturday. Deutsche Bahn said passengers should expect a reduced timetable as well as delays and cancellations.
Long-distance services in the north had been completely suspended on Friday morning, while regional rail services were also heavily affected in many areas. According to Deutsche Bahn, the main causes were snowdrifts; at the nationally important rail hub of Hanover, train services came to a complete standstill.
“In the late-night hours and this morning, DB inspected the routes, made them passable again and brought the vehicles to their deployment locations,” the railway said on Saturday morning. “However, ramping up operations after the effects of the severe winter conditions will take several hours.”
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