Uelzen station in chaos: delays and cancellations on the train!

Uelzen station in chaos: delays and cancellations on the train!

The situation in rail traffic in Lower Saxony is currently causing a lot of discussion among commuters and travelers. Deutsche Bahn is increasingly being confronted with accusations that unreliability and delays are increasingly becoming part of everyday life. This is particularly annoying for passengers who want to rely on regular services. The experiences of one traveler clearly show that there is a need for action here. She reports on an acute overhead line failure in Uelzen, which abruptly stopped traffic on September 22nd and presented travelers with major challenges. The journey from Hamburg to Braunschweig, which usually takes around three hours, was extended by hours due to this disruption. Instead of a relaxed journey, the author even had to organize a carpool due to a cancellation and diversions, which then left her in a huge time crunch due to traffic jams - all in all, the journey turned into a marathon lasting six hours.

Another incident on Monday illustrated the problem. Here, Deutsche Bahn reported that the stop in Uelzen was canceled due to a damaged overhead line. According to reports, this incident, which had an impact on all train traffic, was caused by a freight train and, in turn, the general renovation of the route between Hamburg and Berlin, planned from August 2025 to April 2026, will lead to further restrictions and diversions. Travelers are advised to go via Hanover while replacement buses were available in Uelzen - but they left many confused passengers who didn't know where they were supposed to leave. According to news38.de, the current situation is also reflected in the punctuality values: The RE3 from Hamburg had a punctuality of only 71.87 percent in June 2024.

Punctuality in focus

But what about the punctuality of the entire Deutsche Bahn? The operational punctuality in August showed worrying values: punctuality for ICE and IC trains was only 59.6 percent, while 89.2 percent was achieved in regional transport. These are figures that represent a worrying development compared to the previous year, when long-distance traffic was still at 60.6 percent. Traveler punctuality was also only reflected at 66.7 percent, which is a tiny improvement compared to August 2024 (64.0 percent). This information can be found on the Deutsche Bahn website, where current disruption and delay information as well as an interactive disruption map are also available. The updates, which have been running since May 2025, indicate that many travelers can receive free push notifications about delays, which is at least a small ray of hope in the current situation.

A major core of the problem seems to be the years of ruined infrastructure, as the affected author notes. She strongly calls for better emergency plans and an increase in staff in order to sustainably improve the situation. “It takes a good hand to regain this trust,” is her conclusion.

Overall, the balance sheet is sobering, and Deutsche Bahn has big plans. With Evelyn Palla, a new CEO will take over the helm from October 1st. Whether this will bring the desired upswing remains to be seen.

The future development of rail transport in Germany depends crucially on a combination of improved infrastructure, more reliable connections and a forward-looking organization. The challenges are diverse, and travelers hope that the rails will soon be more reliable again.