German railway: Long-distance trains in north to restart after storm

Rail services in the northern Germany are expected to at least partially normalize on Saturday after winter storm Elli brought heavy snowfall, but will restart a few hours later than initially reported, a Deutsche Bahn spokeswoman said.

The first trains are now expected to start rolling around midday, the spokeswoman told dpa. Earlier she had said the trains would restart around 10 am (0900 GMT).

"It is really starting slowly. Train services remain severely restricted overall." Passengers should check the schedule before travelling, she said.

In regional services, some lines would resume a little earlier, around 9 am, according to the company.

On the long-distance routes, the first trains to resume service would be on the east-west Berlin-Hanover-Ruhr region route, and the north-south lines of the Ruhr region-Hamburg and Berlin-Hamburg would restart later on Saturday, the spokeswoman said.

However, there would be no long-distance trains from the north to Denmark or the Netherlands on Saturday, she added.

Hamburg traditionally doesn't get much snow, but the German Weather Service (DWD) reported early on Saturday that the Hanseatic city had a coating of up to 5 centimetres of snow.

On Friday evening and through the night railway personnel inspected the lines and made them passable again, she said, adding that personnel also ensured that trains got to where they needed to be.

For those stranded, the railway had made seven heated shelter trains available in Hamburg, Hanover, Kassel and Berlin where passengers could find Wi-Fi, food and drinks.