Sharjah 24 – AFP: "Sabotage" targeting communications infrastructure was to blame for major disruption to the German railway network on Saturday, operator Deutsche Bahn said while the government said no motive had yet been identified.
"Cable sabotage" was the cause of the breakdown, which led to a three-hour suspension of train services throughout northern Germany, a spokesman for the company told AFP.
German Transport Minister Volker Wissing said essential cables "were deliberately and intentionally severed" in two places.
"It is clear that this was a targeted and deliberate action," he added, saying the motive was not "yet known".
He described the incident as "clearly premeditated".
Traffic was completely interrupted for about three hours because of "a breakdown in the digital radio system for the trains", before being restored, according to Deutsche Bahn.
Services were affected between Berlin and regions in the west and north of the country including Schleswig-Holstein, the cities of Hamburg and Bremen, as well as Lower Saxony and parts of North Rhine-Westphalia.
The Berlin-Amsterdam route was also suspended, and thouands of travellers were stranded at stations across the affected regions.
Cancellations and delays were still expected on Saturday despite the restoration of rail services, Deutsche Bahn warned.
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