Wednesday, August 20
S-Bahn chaos: Crisis talks address weeks of delays and cancellations
The end is perhaps in sight, but the S-Bahn has been running with major delays for weeks. Most of the problems appear to stem from outdated equipment, leading to switch malfunctions, signal box failures and train cancelwlations. Conditions have deteriorated to the point that Berlin’s Transport Senator, Ute Bonde (CDU), is holding a crisis meeting on Wednesday to discuss possible solutions with the responsible parties.
So what’s going wrong? Most of the issues seem to be occurring between Bellevue and Tiergarten, as well as in three adjacent areas between Hackescher Markt and Friedrichstrasse. Deutsche Bahn has reportedly convened a special group of experts to investigate the causes and propose remedies. Their work, however, is hampered by the fact that parts of the infrastructure are more than 100 years old, with spare components from the manufacturer often no longer available. Warm weather may also be affecting equipment, but breakdowns are perhaps inevitable when relying on signal boxes that were only designed to last only 40 years.
🏚️ Why is everything falling apart? Berlin’s infrastructure crisis
Bonde has said she hopes the crisis talks will produce swift solutions, “so that Berliners are no longer burdened by the disruptions,” and has urged Deutsche Bahn and the S-Bahn to “present a package of measures on how to deal with this dilapidated situation… as quickly as possible”. Yet it remains unclear how the Berlin government can address the problem of outdated infrastructure without new investment, which would require reversing decades of cost-cutting in the railway system.
