A cascading IT failure stopped German train services for more than two hours, causing delays and emergency measures. Authorities say investigations will determine the cause.
As a result of a large-scale computer outage, railway traffic was halted across Germany for several hours.
According to the BBC, the incident occurred due to a large IT outage that affected all regions of the country.
Timeline of events and consequences
The German railway company “Deutsche Bahn” had to halt train services nationwide on Tuesday evening due to an IT outage. All trains were waiting at stations after the failure of the digital railway radio system.
– BBC
The forced halt lasted more than two and a half hours. The GSM-R system, in which the outage occurred, is a wireless communications system used for communication between train drivers and traffic control centers.
After services resumed, Deutsche Bahn apologized to passengers for the disruption and provided taxi vouchers and hotel accommodations.
The situation in the country quickly normalized: service resumed, and rail connections returned to full operation.