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'Malicious and targeted' sabotage halts rail traffic in northern Germany

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Cables essential for the rail network were deliberately cut in two places, causing a three-hour halt in all rail traffic in northern Germany. This was a suspected act of sabotage, but authorities have not identified who could be responsible.

According to Interior Minister Nancy Faeser, the federal police are currently investigating the incident. She also added that the motive was not clear.

Alarm bells were raised after NATO and EU last month stressed the importance of protecting critical infrastructure following what they called acts of sabotage on Nord Stream's gas pipelines.

Transport Minister Volker Wissing said that it was clear that the attack was targeted and malicious.

According to security sources, there are many possible reasons for the attack. These could be anything from common cable theft to targeted attacks.

Omid Nouripour (leader of the Greens party which is part of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s federal coalition) said that anyone attacking the country's critical infrastructure would be met with a "decisive reaction".

He wrote: "We won't be intimidated," on Twitter.

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CHAOS BEFORE ELECTION DAY

Deutsche Bahn said in a statement that it had to suspend rail traffic in the North this morning due to sabotage of cables that are essential for rail traffic.

Deutsche Bahn (DB), had previously blamed the disruption of its network on a technical issue with radio communications. Spiegel magazine reported that the communication system went down around 6:40 AM (0440 GMT). DB tweeted at 11:06 a.m. that traffic was restored but warned about continued delays and cancellations.

The disruption caused delays in rail services between Lower Saxony, Schlewsig-Holstein and Hamburg. This had an impact on international rail travels to Denmark or the Netherlands.

They arrived just days before a Lower Saxony state election, where Scholz's Social Democrats are poised to remain in power. According to polls, the Greens have seen their vote share double.

As departure boards revealed many cancellations or delays, queues quickly grew at mainline stations like Berlin and Hanover.

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