As the rbb24 Inforadio published, two freight trains collided this morning in the Gifhorn district of Lower Saxony. An important railway line with numerous ICE and IC services was closed, and the ICE line between Berlin and Hannover is also affected.
Deutsche Bahn announced on their website that trains are being diverted and delayed by approximately 60 minutes. This also applies to ICE trains from Switzerland via Frankfurt and Kassel to Berlin. IC services between Amsterdam and Berlin will only run to Hannover and will start there in the other direction. Other ICE and IC trains in the section have been canceled, it said. Passengers should check their connections before starting their journey because trains are being diverted, and commuters must allow a significantly longer headway.
A federal police spokesperson said two tankers overturned and two others derailed in the collision. In total, the colliding train consisted of 25 tanker cars filled with propane. The cause of the accident has been still unclear.
The firefighters had to come to the place of this collision. It was also necessary to determine how much explosive propane had leaked. However, a fire department spokesman said there was no danger to the public because the accident site was in the middle of a forest.
And police spokesperson added that the clean-up and investigation would probably take at least a day. The accident also knocked down several hundred metres of overhead power lines and interrupted the electricity supply.
