Hurricane "Zeynep": Bahn stops long-distance traffic in the north completely

Created: 02/19/2022, 08:04

Deutsche Bahn stops all train traffic in northern Germany and parts of NRW.

This should remain so until at least Saturday morning.

The news ticker.

• Storm chaos

  at

  Deutsche Bahn

  : trains remain in northern Germany until at least Saturday morning

  (update from February 18, 7:41 p.m.)

• Long-distance traffic in northern Germany will be phased out with immediate effect

  (update from February 18, 1:20 p.m.)

• Bahn extends special goodwill rule: Travelers can use tickets flexibly from February 17 to 20, 2022

  (update from February 18, 11:25 a.m.).

• The news ticker is updated regularly.

Update from February 18, 7:41 p.m .:

Deutsche Bahn suspended long-distance traffic due to the hurricane “Zeynep” in northern Germany.

In northern Germany and in large parts of North Rhine-Westphalia, this will remain the case until at least Saturday morning, the company announced on Twitter.

Deutsche Bahn stops regional and long-distance traffic: S-Bahn trains are still running

Update from February 18, 4:25 p.m.:

“Due to the approaching storm, we are gradually ending regional and long-distance traffic in northern Germany,” said Deutsche Bahn on Friday.

However, the S-Bahn in Hamburg and Berlin should continue to run.

Level 3 storm warnings from the DWD apply north of Dresden and Wiesbaden. Hesse is also affected by the rail failure.

Because of the impending storm, the Hessian State Railway partially stopped train traffic on Friday for safety reasons.

According to a spokeswoman, the lines RB 12, 15, 29, 45, 52, 90, 92, 93, 99, 96 and 98 were affected. According to the information, travelers had to prepare for delays and delays on the other lines.

"If the situation allows it, the trains should run regularly again from Saturday morning," said the spokeswoman on Friday in Frankfurt.

Deutsche Bahn is completely stopping long-distance traffic in the north due to storm warnings

Update from February 18, 1:20 p.m

.: Deutsche Bahn is now gradually phasing out long-distance traffic in northern Germany because of the storm.

For the rest of the day, there will be no more long-distance trains north of Dortmund, Hanover and Berlin, the company announced on Friday.

It had previously announced that regional traffic in Schleswig-Holstein, Lower Saxony, Hamburg, Bremen and parts of NRW would be discontinued during the course of the day.

No long-distance trains ran all day on the connections from Amsterdam to Berlin and Frankfurt.

Deutsche Bahn asks passengers to find out about the respective connection before travelling.

Current information is available at:

• http://bahn.de/aktuell

• http://bahn.de/sonderkulanz

• Free hotline: 08000996633

Deutsche Bahn stops regional traffic in parts of northern Germany

Update from February 18, 11:25 a.m .:

Deutsche Bahn is gradually phasing out regional traffic in parts of northern Germany and North Rhine-Westphalia because of the announced storm.

The company announced this on Friday for the course of the day in Schleswig-Holstein, Lower Saxony, Hamburg, Bremen and parts of NRW.

The protection of travelers and employees has priority, it said.

The German Weather Service warns of severe weather with extreme hurricane gusts and hurricane-like gusts, especially for the northern parts of the country and for central Germany from the afternoon.

"Whoever can, we recommend traveling by train from the late afternoon to an earlier time," recommended the railway.

Passengers can use their tickets booked for the period from Thursday to Sunday flexibly until February 27 or cancel free of charge if they postpone trips because of the storm.

.: From Friday afternoon, the German weather service expects another storm front with sometimes even higher wind speeds.

Restrictions are therefore to be expected.

Deutsche Bahn asks its passengers to find out about their connection on

or in the DB Navigator.

There is also an extended goodwill rule for booked tickets from February 17th to 20th for everyone who wants to postpone their trip because of the storm.

Deutsche Bahn: Storm low damage will still have an effect on Friday

Update from February 18, 9:11 a.m

.: Fallen trees or objects on the overhead line – according to Deutsche Bahn, the clean-up and repair work is continuing at full speed.

In some cases, overturned signal bridges or catenary masts would also have to be repaired.

This work is expensive and would take longer, they say.

Railway: Most of the routes can be used again after a storm

Update from February 18, 8:15 a.m .:

After the “Ylenia” storm, most of the rail routes are passable again.

In particular, long-distance trains are again on the move between Berlin and Hamburg and between Berlin and North Rhine-Westphalia, the railway said on Friday morning.

Nevertheless, there are still restrictions due to blocked sections of the route in long-distance traffic.

On the route north of Berlin towards the Baltic Sea coast and north of Hamburg and Münster as well as the international connections from Frankfurt/Main and Berlin to Amsterdam, no ICE and Intercity trains would yet run.

There are cancellations and delays.

In regional traffic, traffic has largely returned to normal.

Impairments are still possible on individual connections in the areas particularly affected by the storm, such as parts of Lower Saxony.

Massive train disruptions because of "Ylenia": failures in long-distance traffic longer than initially announced

Update from February 17, 6:18 p.m

.: Because of the hurricane “Ylenia”, no long-distance trains ran in the area north of the train stations in Münster, Hamm, Kassel and Magdeburg on Thursday until further notice.

Individual long-distance connections further south were also affected, such as an EC connection between Munich and Salzburg, Deutsche Bahn said.

The outages will also last much longer than initially announced.

Train traffic is expected to be “affected nationwide” by Saturday, DB wrote on Twitter.

In the northern half of the country, “in large parts no trains would run until the end of the day” on Thursday.

This applies in particular to long-distance traffic to and from Hamburg.

A spokesman in Berlin said in the afternoon that it was not possible to say with certainty which long-distance routes would continue to be canceled on Friday and Saturday.

"It's difficult and not accurate to predict what the day will look like tomorrow."

A railway spokesman warned travelers of nationwide effects, even in areas not directly affected by the storm.

Travel should be postponed if possible, he said in Berlin.

The complete stop of rail traffic is a "precautionary measure" based on experience with previous extreme weather conditions.

Clean-up work after the storm has begun

Update from February 17, 12:18 p.m

.: “It is still too early to assess the damage.

But the damage is considerable," said railway spokesman Achim Stauss of the dpa.

The clean-up work has begun.

"At the moment, repair crews from the railway are on the move at full speed to clear routes, cut trees with chainsaws or repair overhead lines, which is not easy in these weather conditions."

More information was announced for the afternoon.

Due to the ongoing storm, further disruptions are to be expected.

There will also be problems with the second expected storm front, said Stauss.

"I'm afraid our travelers will have to live with restrictions for a longer period of time." Travelers should inform themselves carefully before their trips.

If possible, trips should be postponed.

Tickets are valid longer.

Storm low "Ylenia": Deutsche Bahn stops long-distance traffic in northern Germany

The railway has completely stopped the long-distance traffic of ICEs and ICs in northern and northeastern Germany, said the spokesman.

According to reports from the railways, this has affected Lower Saxony, Bremen, Hamburg, Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Berlin and Brandenburg since the night.

There were also cancellations and delays in regional transport in many federal states.

"It was a precautionary measure," Stauss said.

"It's better to hold the trains back at the stations.

We can then take better care of the travelers.

We want to avoid trains standing still on open routes in this weather, which makes it difficult to take care of 300 or 400 passengers.”

Hurricane situation in Germany: Deutsche Bahn draws consequences in many regions

Update from February 17, 9.50 a.m .:

Because of the storm “Ylenia”, Berlin-Brandenburg Airport BER interrupted the so-called aircraft handling on Thursday morning.

This means that due to the strong gusts of wind, no machines are loaded or unloaded and initially no passengers can board the aircraft, as a spokesman for BER said.

However, machines that have already been dispatched can still take off and landings still take place.

Details on the number of canceled flights initially remained unclear.

Update from February 17, 6:29 a.m

.: Commuters have to be patient this Thursday.

Trees have fallen, partially blocking railway lines.

Rail traffic is particularly affected in northern Germany, Deutsche Bahn tweeted on Thursday morning.

Travelers are asked to find out about the connections.

During the night, the storm damage was initially limited.

A tree fell on the tracks near Buchholz between Bremen and Hamburg.

An ICE therefore had to be diverted, as a railway spokesman said, according to the dpa news agency.

According to the company, trees in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) blocked isolated secondary routes in the Dortmund area.

The Dortmund-Münster connection was temporarily affected.

Hurricane low - rail traffic in northern Germany affected

According to Deutsche Bahn, there are currently no long-distance trains in some federal states.

According to Bahn, the problems also extend to North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, Hesse, Thuringia, Saxony-Anhalt and Saxony.

Deutsche Bahn has set up a special free hotline: Travelers can call 08000 996633 for information.

For the Thursday/Friday period, goodwill regulations apply to the validity of long-distance tickets already purchased, Deutsche Bahn also announced.

More flexible use over several days or free cancellations are possible.

• According to DB, no long-distance trains run in: Lower Saxony, Bremen, Hamburg, Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Brandenburg, Berlin.

• However, the effects also extend to other federal states, in particular to North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, Hesse, Thuringia, Saxony-Anhalt and Saxony.

Hurricane situation in Germany: train cancellations are threatened by storms - you have these rights as a passenger

First report from February 16, 2022

Düsseldorf – The DWD warns of violent storms coming to large parts of Germany.

Train travelers could also be affected.

If strong winds or other exceptional weather conditions thwart the plans of train passengers, they enjoy these passenger rights.

In the event of delays, long-distance and local rail companies are then generally obliged to compensate - unlike airlines, which can invoke force majeure.

This is laid down in European guidelines on passenger rights, says Beatrix Kaschel from the local transport arbitration board of the NRW consumer advice center.

In view of exceptional weather conditions, Deutsche Bahn often grants additional goodwill - even in the case of the current storm "Xandra".

If passengers have planned their long-distance journey for Thursday (February 17, 2022) or Friday (February 18, 2022), they can use their booked ticket flexibly from Wednesday (February 16, 2022) up to and including seven days after the end of the disruption or cancel it free of charge.

You can therefore start the train journey earlier, and any train or day commitments are also lifted. 

Storm in Germany: Zug canceled due to hurricane – the goodwill arrangement does not apply here

According to Deutsche Bahn, seat reservations can also be canceled free of charge.

In order to have tickets booked online canceled, rail customers use a goodwill form.

You can cancel “flex price” tickets booked online with a day commitment yourself via your customer account.

The goodwill arrangement of Deutsche Bahn does not apply to the city function of tickets.

In addition, the general passenger rights apply in the event of a delay or train cancellation: If there is a risk of a delay of at least 20 minutes at the destination, the passenger can switch to a faster connection - if there is one.

If he changes from local transport to a more expensive connection, for example long-distance transport, such as an ICE, he must advance the surcharge, but can have it reimbursed later.

Exceptions apply to heavily discounted tickets such as the "Schönes-Wochenende-Ticket", the "Quer-durchs-Land-Ticket" or "LänderTickets", for which this regulation does not apply according to Deutsche Bahn.

It is fundamentally important to distinguish between expected and actual delays at the destination station.

This is because the amount of compensation is based on passenger rights.

If it is expected in advance that the train will be 60 minutes or more late or has to be canceled altogether, the passenger can have both the ticket price paid and the reservation costs reimbursed in full.

If the trip is interrupted, the costs will only be reimbursed pro rata

If the passenger is already on the move and there is a risk of an hour or more delay at the destination station, the customer has a choice: If the journey has become pointless, he can return to the starting station and have the ticket refunded in full.

However, if he decides to break off his journey en route, only the proportionate fare to the last station on the way is returned.

If the train customer is delayed and reaches the destination station, the train will reimburse the fare on a graduated basis.

Train passengers can expect a compensation of 25 percent of the fare paid for delays of 60 minutes or more at the destination station, and 50 percent for delays of 120 minutes or more.

It is important to know that if the customer has bought a return ticket, the compensation will only be calculated for the one-way journey, i.e. on the basis of half the fare.

And: Individual compensation amounts of less than four euros are not paid out at all.

However, you can also submit several delays together - which is particularly interesting for holders of local transport time tickets. 

Storm situation could affect rail traffic: New legal situation from 2023 - passenger rights will be restricted

In view of the predicted storm situation in Germany, Deutsche Bahn has taken precautions to be able to react quickly in an emergency.

“Deutsche Bahn is monitoring current weather developments and preparing for them.

Employees and emergency vehicles are put on standby so that any storm damage can be repaired quickly, ”reported a press spokeswoman for Deutsche Bahn when asked by

In order to get your money after train cancellations and delays, forms have to be filled out.

You can get the corresponding form for compensation by post in Deutsche Bahn travel centers or from the service staff on the train, where you can have the delay of more than 60 minutes confirmed in writing in the appropriate field.

If the ticket was purchased online via the Deutsche Bahn customer account, customers can alternatively also submit the application online.

However, a different legal situation will take effect from next year.

"From 2023, passenger rights will no longer apply in the event of force majeure," says Beatrix Kaschel from the local transport arbitration board: the railway companies would then be released from their obligation to compensate for delays or train cancellations "due to extraordinary circumstances such as extreme weather conditions or major natural disasters".

The minimum compensation for delays, which affects the 25 and 50 percent regulations mentioned, remains unchanged.

The storm threatens to become chaotic in large parts of Germany.

In Hamburg there should be a storm surge *.