Deutsche Bahn: Long-distance traffic will probably remain disrupted until Saturday after a cable fire in Hamburg

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Numerous travelers on the platform of Hamburg Central Station: is the train coming?

Photo: Jonas Walzberg / dpa

A cable fire at Deutsche Bahn in the middle of Hamburg leads to major disruptions to long-distance traffic nationwide.

The impairments would probably continue until Saturday, said a spokeswoman.

Travelers are encouraged to inquire about their connections in advance.

Deutsche Bahn provides information on the current disruptions on its website.

Long queues formed in front of the information desks at the Hamburg train stations on Friday.

Waiting people jostled each other on the platforms.

The cable fire occurred near Hamburg's Sternschanze train station on the so-called connecting railway, which runs from Altona via Diebsteich, Sternschanze and Dammtor to the main station.

It is one of the busiest routes in Germany.

According to the railways, only a maximum of three trains per hour could run on the route on Friday.

Elaborate repair

All communication on this route between the interlockings runs via the affected cable, and the switches and signals are controlled via it.

According to a railway spokeswoman, the cable is a 1000-wire copper cable.

The repair is very expensive.

According to the railway, numerous routes are affected.

For example, the ICE trains Kiel/Lübeck - Hamburg - Hanover - Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe were canceled.

The ICE trains Hamburg - Berlin - Erfurt - Munich run between Hamburg and Berlin only every two hours and are delayed in the Hamburg area by about 30 minutes.

Long-distance trains Hamburg - Bremen - Cologne - southern Germany were also delayed by about 30 minutes in the Hamburg area.

As travel alternatives in Hamburg, the train provides S-Bahn connections and regional trains.

The cause of the fire is not yet known.

ptz/dpa