Germany: Several fires paralyzed train traffic

After many Trains between Hamburg and Berlin cancelled Rostock because of the fires, the police assume a political motive. Cable poles were set on fire in three places in Hamburg, police in the Hanseatic city said on Friday. There were train cancellations and delays in long-distance and regional transport. Deutsche Bahn cited “damage caused by vandalism” as the reason.

According to information, the train driver reported the first fire at 2:40 am. Two more fires were reported by 3:40 a.m. All fires were extinguished by firefighters. The State Security Police of the Hamburg State Criminal Police Office began investigations into the arson and searched for witnesses.

Confession letters from left-wing extremists

As reported by the German newspaper Bild, the letter of responsibility has now been published on the Indemia website. The text reads: “On the night of September 7, we sabotaged the arteries of Hamburg’s capitalist infrastructure. To do this, we selected several critical points in freight traffic and in this case we decided to limit ourselves to sections of the road that are not used for passenger traffic.” The goal of the far-left group was to cause “long-term failures or restrictions on the transportation of raw materials purchased, for example, in the context of neo-colonial exploitation and destructive extractive processes of the land.”

Extensive restrictions on railway traffic

According to Deutsche Bahn, long-haul flights between Hamburg via Berlin and Erfurt to southern Germany on the Hamburg-Berlin route have been cancelled. Therefore, ICE communications were rerouted every hour between Hamburg and Berlin. Delays of 30-60 minutes and high capacity usage are expected on these routes.

In addition, long-distance trains from Hamburg via Rostock to Stralsund and the Baltic Sea resort of Binz have been cancelled, the railways also announced. The disturbance is likely to continue until the evening. According to the newspaper “Bild”, regional traffic in the region was also greatly affected.

Train traffic in Munich stopped

Last Thursday, damage to the overhead line largely paralyzed train traffic in Munich for hours. The first tracks can only be opened again in the evening. According to police, an excavator driver destroyed an overhead line during civil engineering works at an S-Bahn station. The Federal Police launched an investigation against the 25-year-old.

(AFP/JAR)