Germany's rail network was plunged into chaos on Tuesday evening when IT maintenance issues brought all trains to an abrupt halt, leaving hundreds of thousands of passengers stranded across the country. In a dramatic escalation of technical troubles that have plagued the railway for years, the disruption forced passengers and freight trains alike to grind to a standstill.
The initial cause was feared to be a cyber-attack, but officials later revealed it was likely triggered by an attempt to upgrade an ageing component in the network's communication system. Without this essential part, trains were unable to operate, leaving many stuck on tracks between stations or standing idle at platforms.
Passenger and freight services were severely disrupted for several hours as engineers worked to resolve the issue, with a full system reset finally implemented after two hours. However, it took much longer to clear the backlog of stranded trains and passengers.
DB InfraGO's chief executive Philipp Nagl issued a grovelling apology on Wednesday, vowing that the railway would leave no stone unturned in investigating the cause of the disruption. With the network still reeling from years of underinvestment and overcapacity, commuters are left wondering what went wrong this time.