Overview

• Deutsche Bahn reported that unknown perpetrators opened an underground shaft and severed multiple signal cables near Leverkusen, disabling a control point and closing the corridor for roughly 17 hours with reroutes and replacement buses.
• The line was cleared on Monday evening and, according to DB early Tuesday, trains between Cologne and Düsseldorf are running to plan.
• Separately, a damaged overhead line near Uelzen tore about 300 meters of catenary, canceling ICEs between Berlin and Hamburg on Monday before overnight repairs restored normal operations from 3 a.m.; initial findings indicate a freight train caused the damage.
• On Tuesday morning, a fire on sleepers stopped traffic between Duisburg, Mülheim and Oberhausen, and repairs after a freight derailment in Emmerich are still pending, keeping the Amsterdam–Cologne route partially closed with long‑distance trains on detour.
• Planned roadworks add pressure: the A44 between Düsseldorf‑Messe/Arena and Lank‑Latum is fully closed September 22–29 with signed detours, and Rheinbahn’s SB52 is suspended with passengers directed to bus 832 and the U76.