TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - German rail company Deutsche Bahn is halting trains across the country due to an IT disruption, a spokesperson for the company told German news agencies.
Trains are being held at stations and travelers are staying in their seats amid the tech meltdown.
Deutsche Bahn said the outage was stemming from a nationwide problem with the so-called Global System for Mobile Communication for Railways (GSM-R)
communication system, which is used for international communication on the railway network.
All trains are suspended in Germany's most populous state, North Rhine-Westphalia.
Berlin's public transport authorities say that municipal, regional and long-distance trains run by Deutsche Bahn are impacted by the outage.
Problem identified and technicians working to resolve issue
The disruption that led to the internal communications outage has been identified meaning technicians can solve the issue in due time.
Deutsche Bahn CEO Evelyn Palla a little earlier spoke to the German Bild newspaper and said "we are now trying to get the trains into stations so that travelers can disembark. And then we have to fix the problem, which we don't yet know."
Deutsche Bahn has also apologized to passengers for the situation and said it will issue taxi and hotel vouchers to people affected.
The German rail is notorious for frequent late trains and cancellations.
S-Bahn services in Berlin, Hamburg, Stuttgart also impacted by outage
Passenger train services or the S-Bahn suburban railway link operated by Deutsche Bahn were also affected in some cities, including Berlin.
Authorities at the Berlin S-Bahn said all trains across all lines were suspended due to a communication failure.
Authorities in Stuttgart said so too, writing: "At present, all S-Bahn trains across the entire network are being held at platforms."
"Please check your journey in the travel information system for alternative transport options. We will inform you as soon as we have new information and can assess how long the disruption will last."
Read: Dozens Drown in France as People Seek Respite From Heat
Click here to get the latest news updates from Tempo on Google News
