Deutsche Bahn has stopped all its trains on Tuesday night after the GSM-R network fell. This network is basically the digital system that allows machinists and control centers to speak. The service was finally restored around 12:50 a.m., according to media reports such as the BBC, after more than two and a half hours of total paralysis.
What happened. At 10:30 p.m. on Tuesday (local time), Deutsche Bahn announced that all its trains were being held at stations for a widespread failure in the GSM-R networkthe digital radio communications system that connects drivers with railway traffic management centers.
Without that connection, basically no train can run safely. So the operator chose to paralyze its entire railway network, both long-distance and regional trains and also the S-Bahn (which are commuter trains that link the suburbs with urban centers).
What is GSM-R and why is it so critical. The acronym corresponds to Global System for Mobile Communications–Railway, an adaptation of the 2G standard designed specifically for railways. According to the European Union Railway Agency, It has been implemented throughout Europe since 2000 as a common operating system. The objective of the system is to guarantee communication between train drivers and signal control stations. It is mandatory and essential, so without that active line, it is impossible to operate safely.
Deutsche Bahn already knows that the system is obsolete, in fact has signed a contract with Nokia to replace it with a 5G network based on the FRMCS (Future Railway Mobile Communication System) standard, but in the meantime it continues to depend on it.
As has managed the problem. Shortly after midnight, the company announced that had identified the cause of the failurealthough without specifying which one it was. Technicians worked to restore the network, which was back up and running around 12:50 a.m. Deutsche Bahn CEO Evelyn Palla counted to the newspaper Bild that they managed to “stabilize the situation with an emergency system.” The company distributed taxi and accommodation vouchers for affected passengers and offered alternative transportation where possible. He also set up stationary cars at the stations so that travelers could wait seated.
No signs of cyber attack. The Register points out that there are no indications that the incident was the result of a computer attack, nor of cable cuts or other physical failures that could explain a drop in national coverage. What the same media does point out is that a network that supports such critical infrastructure should have sufficient layers of redundancy to avoid this type of total paralysis. The exact cause of the failure has not yet been made public.
Infrastructure under renovation. It seems that delays and interruptions have become increasingly frequent on the German rail network, a country that has historically boasted punctuality in its trains. Deutsche Bahn, the public operator, has been carrying out renovations on its main lines for years to try to counteract the deterioration of its infrastructure, a deterioration that has been accumulating for decades by insufficient investment.
However, a complete technical shutdown of the entire network is quite unusual. And when Germany has paralyzed its trains in the past, it has usually been due to meteorological causes, not due to technical failures.
Cover image | Deutsche Bahn
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