Train cancellations in the north: Who is to blame for the problems?

Train cancellations in the north: Who is to blame for the problems?

The North German railway landscape is currently facing major challenges, in particular the metronome trains in the Hamburg-Hannover-Bremen triangle, where massive train failures cause a lot of frustration. In the past week the number of unusual trips was a proud 178. Interestingly, only five of these failures were caused by Metronom itself. The main cause of these inconvenience is technical problems with Alstom, the maintenance company that is responsible for the maintenance of the metronome trains. This is also confirmed by the article by Az-Online .

The problems are diverse: Alstom not only fights with lack of material, but also with long waiting times and inefficient maintenance processes. A software update in January causes an abundance of complications in the locomotives of the 147 series. According to Alstom, many problems are largely resolved, but there are still technical irregularities in two train associations that are currently being examined intensively.

The future of the metronome

metronome has announced that it will regularly run regularly in the north from June 2026, but only on certain routes. It is particularly relevant that the Uelzen-Göttingen route will be taken over by DB Regio in the future. In the meantime, the state-of-the-sac company (LNVG) plans to re-award the contract for the north -os-one of the Hansenetz. As early as December 2023, Metronom had asked the LNVG to dissolve the transport contract in order to be able to negotiate under new conditions. The company must now prove that it can deliver the quality that the passengers are expected to, such as ndr.de describes in detail.

The Hansenetz will in future be distributed to several operators, which could increase hopes for improving the situation. Malte Diehl from the Pro Bahn passenger association already expressed concerns about the reliability of metronome, especially in view of the many delays and train failures. The RB31 between Hamburg and Winsen in particular was one of the most unpunctual trains in Lower Saxony last year. Even guests complain about unclean features and defective toilets.

The effects on travelers

These problems also increase with external circumstances such as embankment fires, overhead line disorders and even bomb defuses, which almost brought rail traffic in northern Germany on July 1, 2025. Travelers had to expect long waiting times, not only in regional traffic, but also on long -distance trains. Particularly critical situations occurred on the routes between Hanover and Berlin, where diversions and delays of up to 90 minutes were on the agenda, such as the Kreiszeitung reported.