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Deep freeze disrupts trains

DDP/The Local
DDP/The Local - [email protected]
Deep freeze disrupts trains
Photo: DPA

Long-distance rail-links were disrupted across Germany on Thursday, as ice on overhead contact wires affected Inter-city services between Amsterdam and Berlin and between Hamburg and Cologne.

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Adverse weather hit four major ICE and IC connections, a spokesman for German rail operator Deutsche Bahn (DB) said. The IC line between Hamburg and Cologne is being diverted through Hannover, adding an hour to the travel time. The Amsterdam to Berlin train now ends in Hannover and people travelling to the Dutch city are advised to change in Duisburg.

People travelling on the ICE train from Berlin to Stuttgart are being advised to change in Leipzig, and trains from Hamburg to Munich are also being affected by the weather. Replacement buses have been mobilised wherever the roads are clear.

A DB spokesman told travellers throughout the country to expect longer journeys.

The national weather service announced meanwhile that cold and snowy conditions would continue well into the New Year. The entire country would be “flooded with cold,” the service announced on Thursday.

The snow that fell in the north of the country this week will stay on the ground for the next few days, while the south can expect snow on Friday night at the latest. Temperatures at night are likely to reach -10 degrees Celsius.

Snowfall is expected in the north of the country on New Year’s Day, while the south will have have rainier, relatively warm weather until the expected snowfall at night. The snow is expected to continue throughout the south into Sunday, and there will frost on the ground throughout the country.

Click here for The Local's weather forecast.

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