Germany's national railway operator Deutsche Bahn (DB) came to a complete standstill on Tuesday night after a failure in its GSM-R digital radio communication system halted train services across the entire country. The disruption began at around 10:30 p.m. and lasted approximately two hours, with all trains — including long-distance intercity services, regional trains, S-Bahn urban rail, and trains operated by private rail companies — ordered to proceed to the nearest station and stop. The first services resumed around 12:30 a.m. on Wednesday, though DB warned passengers to expect significant delays and sporadic cancellations until at least 6:00 a.m.

GSM-R, which stands for Global System for Mobile Communications – Railway, is the backbone of Germany's rail communications infrastructure. It enables contact between train drivers and traffic controllers, monitors physical infrastructure such as switches and signals, and drives passenger information boards on platforms. DB's infrastructure subsidiary, DB InfraGO, said its IT specialists worked continuously through the night to resolve the fault, which was identified but not publicly explained in detail. DB chief executive Evelyn Palla confirmed the situation had been stabilised using an emergency system. The disruption affected tens of thousands of passengers, many of whom spent hours stranded in trains or station concourses. In Frankfurt, travellers reported that no hotel rooms were available across the city, and in Berlin passengers at the main station complained of receiving no information — though they noted that staff were approachable and polite.

Political criticism came swiftly. Oliver Krischer, transport minister of North Rhine-Westphalia — Germany's most populous state, located in the country's west — described the event as