On 29 May, rail freight on Germany’s inland corridors was described as being under severe pressure.

Ongoing construction on important routes was worsened by a fire that shut a main line during the week and by a derailment in the Port of Hamburg.

Operators reported major bottlenecks across the network. Rail operator Metrans said trains were stacking up across north-south and east-west corridors, creating a blockage across the system.

The company added that some train sets had to be parked and that delays had become significant, with movement in some sections halted.

Speaking to the Journal of Commerce, a Hapag-Lloyd spokesperson said construction on the Hamburg–Berlin and Hannover–Hamburg lines had affected rail freight, while the fire in Hannover and the derailment at Hamburg’s Container Terminal Altenwerder had made conditions worse.

He added that overloaded diversion routes were creating further operational problems, including driver-hour limits that stopped trains until replacement staff arrived.

In addition, market experts noted that the severe disruption on the German rail network is impacting scheduling unpredictability, missed vessel connections at ports and delays for customers.

By 1 June, further incidents had added to the disruption.

Metrans reported an IT outage stopped trains from entering or leaving the Port of Bremerhaven on Friday and on Sunday. Severe weather during the following weekend in northern Germany damaged overhead power lines at several points.

According to the rail operator, the most serious conditions were seen in Bremerhaven and the Leipzig area.

As of 1 June, the Hamburg Port Authority was managing train access, with import delays of up to two days and export delays of up to five days.

In Bremerhaven, BremenPorts was controlling access, with imports delayed by up to four days and exports by up to five days.

Wilhelmshaven access was limited to night hours, domestic Germany delays were up to five days, and Duisburg imports were delayed by up to 1.5 days.