Berlin 24 June(UNIPA News)— Germany’s railway network came to a temporary halt late Tuesday after a nationwide failure in the communications system used for rail operations, disrupting train services across the country and stranding thousands of passengers.

National rail operator Deutsche Bahn said the disruption was caused by a malfunction in the GSM-R digital communication system, which facilitates communication between train drivers and railway control centers. As a result, train traffic was suspended nationwide while technicians worked to restore the system.

Nearly two-and-a-half hours after first reporting the outage, Deutsche Bahn announced that the issue had been resolved and train services were gradually resuming. The company said the cause of the disruption had been identified, although no further details were immediately provided.

During the outage, trains were held at stations across Germany, while passengers faced long queues at information counters seeking alternative travel arrangements. Deutsche Bahn provided taxi and hotel vouchers to affected travelers and, where possible, kept trains available at stations for passengers to remain onboard.

The company apologized for the disruption and said emergency systems had been used to stabilize operations during the incident.

The affected GSM-R network, short for Global System for Mobile Communications–Railway, is a standardized communications system widely used across Europe for railway operations, enabling both voice and data transmission essential for train movement and traffic management.

The incident marks one of the rare occasions in recent years that Germany’s rail network has experienced a nationwide suspension of services due to a technical failure. Previous large-scale disruptions have more commonly been linked to severe weather events.