Germany's rail network halted by GSM-R failure

Germany's national railway system was brought to a standstill late Tuesday evening due to a nationwide failure of its critical digital communication network, stranding thousands of passengers and halting all train travel across the country. The disruption, which lasted for approximately two and a half hours, was caused by a problem with the Global System for Mobile Communications-Railway (GSMR), the specialized wireless network used for operational communication between train drivers and traffic control centers.

Deutsche Bahn, the state-owned national rail operator, announced that all trains were being held at stations as a safety precaution because the GSMR system was not functioning. The company stated that without this essential communication tool, train movements could not continue safely. Both long-distance Intercity Express (ICE) services and regional commuter trains were affected, with major corridors connecting cities like Berlin, Munich, Hamburg, Frankfurt, and Cologne experiencing suspensions.

After initially reporting the outage, Deutsche Bahn said around midnight that technicians had identified the cause of the issue and were working intensively to resolve it. The...