Deutsche Bahn renewed suspension of regional services

style="float: right; margin-bottom: 10px; font-weight: 600;"Mon 21st Feb, 2022

"Ylenia", "Zeynep" and now "Antonia": At the turn of the week, the third storm is rushing over Berlin and Brandenburg - but it is not expected to be as bad as in the past few days. Nevertheless, Deutsche Bahn is expecting new disruptions - and is calculating a renewed interruption of regional traffic in the capital region in the night to Monday. "Depending on the strength of the storm, it is possible that DB Regio Nordost will have to shut down operations again around 11 p.m. on Sunday evening to protect passengers and employees," Deutsche Bahn announced.

In any case, restrictions caused by the storm damage so far are expected to continue at least until Monday afternoon. Should the third storm "Antonia" lead to further disruptions, operations could also start more slowly on Monday morning, the railroad warned. Especially commuters in rush hour traffic should therefore inform themselves in time about their connections.

On some regional rail lines, no train could run again on Sunday, or only a limited schedule was offered. The private operator Odeg also reported individual restrictions. Long-distance traffic is also not expected to return to normal so quickly. Between Berlin and Hamburg, at least two ICE trains should start again on Sunday evening, and trains should also run on Monday. No long-distance trains continue to run between Berlin and Rostock/Stralsund.

Above all, the north and northeast of Germany were badly affected by the damage, said railroad spokesman Achim Stauss on Sunday afternoon. "Currently, we can run about three-quarters of the long-distance traffic." According to the railroads, a total of more than 6,000 kilometers of the rail network in the affected regions were not passable in the meantime. Around 2000 emergency personnel were working around the clock to remove fallen trees and repair overhead lines, it added.

Deutsche Bahn is also expecting delays in rail freight traffic over the next few days. Many routes are still closed, on the sections that are already passable again, there is a backlog, it said. The Berlin local traffic with S-Bahn, U-Bahn, streetcar, and buses, however, had largely returned to normal on Sunday.

After a rainy and windy Sunday, storm low "Antonia" is expected to bring gusts with wind speeds between 65 and 90 kilometers per hour starting late this evening, a spokeswoman for the German Weather Service (DWD) said Sunday. Accordingly, thunderstorms are to be expected during the night, which at times could also cause severe squalls with speeds of up to 100 kilometers per hour.

Monday morning will also be stormy at first until the wind is expected to subside in the afternoon. Isolated thunderstorms and sleet showers will then set the tone for the weather in the coming week, according to Sunday's information: it will remain changeable and windy with peak temperatures between six and nine degrees.



Image by Markus Christ


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