According to the police, cable shafts on railway lines were set on fire in three places in the Hamburg city area on Friday night. It is assumed that the fire was intentionally set and an investigation has begun, it said.
The investigators assume a political motive because a letter of responsibility appeared on the left-wing platform Indymedia. However, the letter primarily refers to freight transport. In fact, it should therefore be about sections of the route “that are not used for passenger transport”.
Nevertheless, passenger traffic between Berlin and Hamburg was severely disrupted. A large number of long-distance trains between the two cities were canceled during the day. Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing called for consistent action by the rule of law. “Such attacks are a form of terrorism,” said Wissing.
“We can only say we are lucky that no one suffered physical harm.” Such attacks not only made it difficult for people to travel, but also made it difficult to secure the supply of essential goods.
The social consensus must be that all violence and extremism is outlawed, said the FDP politician. The climate activists of the last generation, for example, have further lowered the inhibition threshold for interventions in traffic with their actions in the past.
The mood at the main train stations in Hamburg and Berlin was mixed. Many travelers stayed there and waited for the trains that were still able to run despite all the problems. Many complained that the organization and information provided by Deutsche Bahn was not good. Other travelers, in turn, switched to other travel options such as coaches or rental vehicles.
uh/hf (dpa)
Source: DW
