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Extreme cold wreaks havoc on suburban trains in Munich and Berlin

Munich’s Ostbahnof was completely closed down on Wednesday morning after freezing temperatures made regular service impossible. In Berlin the situation was only slightly better.

Published: 28 February 2018 11:08 CET
Extreme cold wreaks havoc on suburban trains in Munich and Berlin
A broken down S-Bahn train in Munich on Tuesday. Photo: DPA

The closure of Ostbahnhof, one of the main stations in the Bavarian capital, meant that all S-Bahn lines and regional trains travelling in and out of the city’s east were affected, the Süddeutsche Zeitung reports.

Deutsche Bahn said that the extremely cold temperatures had caused a problem with the switches at the busy station meaning the rails could not be properly connected.

The situation was fixed later on Wednesday morning, and the S2, S3, S6 and S8 lines had all resumed regular service.

This was the third day of rail disruptions in Munich. On Tuesday the airport was unreachable for more than an hour and on Monday passengers were left sitting in trains for hours waiting for the line to be repaired.

DB has named various causes for the chaos, including defective overhead wiring and broken down trains.

In Berlin the S-Bahn was also hit by major problems on Wednesday morning, as defective switches caused delays on the Ringbahn.

Berlin daily Tagesspiegel reports that the cold weather was behind the switch problems. The key S41 line was only running every ten minutes on Wednesday morning. The S3, S5, S7, S75 and S9 were all also running irregularly.

Just like in Munich, this was the third day of delays on the suburban rail lines.

The German Weather Service has said that the weather will begin to improve on Thursday.

WEATHER

‘Turbo spring’: Germany to see temperatures above 25C

Germany is set for a blast of warm weather in the coming week as the colder spell eases off.

Published: 26 April 2024 16:56 CEST
'Turbo spring': Germany to see temperatures above 25C

“The late winter weather of the past few days with frost and snow is a thing of the past for the time being, and spring will kick into turbo gear over the next few days,” said meteorologist Adrian Leyser from the German Weather Service (DWD) on Friday.

Temperatures are expected to rise sharply over the weekend with plenty of sunshine, forecasters said. In Germany anything above 25C is classed as a summer day. “The summer mark of 25C will be cracked regionally as early as Sunday,” said Leyser.

It comes as snow and hail hit Germany last week, and temperatures fell below freezing in some places.

But showers and thunderstorms are still possible in the west and north of Germany. Maximum temperatures there are expected to reach around 20C. 

According to the DWD, spring will get a little damper on Monday, with a few rain spells.  “However, the next low pressure system over Western Europe is preparing to turn on the warm air jet again from Tuesday,” said the meteorologist.

On Wednesday – which is a public holiday across Germany for International Workers’ Day – temperatures could soar nearer 30C. 

“In the south and east, we are even approaching the 30C mark,” said Leyser. However, the weather will remain “susceptible to disruption”, said Leyser, especially in the west where there is a risk of isolated and sometimes severe thunderstorms.

READ ALSO: What to do on May 1st in Germany

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