Germany rail network briefly halted nationwide

Germany rail network briefly halted nationwide.

German rail company Deutsche Bahn had to pause its train services across the country due to a nationwide IT disruption on Tuesday night.

All its trains were held at stations following a malfunction with the country's digital railway radio network, causing widespread disruption.

At 22:30 local time (21:30 BST), Deutsche Bahn said a nationwide disruption of the Global System for Mobile Communication for Railways (GSM-R) meant that all trains were being held at stations.

In a followup statement, Deutsche Bahn then said the cause of the disruption, which had affected internal communication channels, "has now been identified" and technicians were working "diligently to resolve the issue".

Passengers were urged to find alternative modes of transport with major delays and cancellations expected.

At the time, Dutch Railways did not say how long the disruption would last or how many trains and passengers were affected.

Dutch Bahn later said the disruption had been resolved after trains were completely halted for more than two and a half hours.

"Our IT experts worked tirelessly to resolve the issue - successfully. The disruption was quickly resolved and service has now gradually resumed," it said. "We thank all passengers for their patience," it added.