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Freight Derailment Wrecks 5 Kilometers of Track on HannoverGöttingen Route, Regional Trains Disrupted for Weeks

Crews shift from controlled detonations to crane-led recovery as operators target a February return for full RE2 service.

Overview

  • Deutsche Bahn reports massive infrastructure damage over roughly five kilometers near Elze, with repairs expected to run for several weeks.
  • Federal police say several wagons detached and struck an oncoming freight train, no one was injured, and the second train did not derail.
  • DB says several thousand track components, overhead masts, signals, cables and three switches must be replaced to restore the corridor.
  • The THW used small controlled blasts on Sunday to separate bent rails, an approach police said would speed safe reopening.
  • Metronom projects full RE2 service only from February and RB77 is affected, with buses running between Nordstemmen and Banteln; long‑distance trains are unaffected, and a separate cable theft near Görlitz has halted GörlitzNiesky services with repairs now expected Tuesday morning.