Germany’s iconic ICE network is inching back to life after weekend blizzard “Elli” forced a rare blanket suspension north of Hanover. By Sunday evening, 11 January 2026, Deutsche Bahn (DB) reported that two-thirds of long-distance trains in the north were running again—up from none just 36 hours earlier. Nationwide capacity sits at roughly 75 %, but speed restrictions, rolling-stock repositioning and continued snow clearance mean journey times remain unpredictable.
The chaos began Friday night when snowdrifts up to one metre buried points across Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein, while 90 km/h gusts tore overhead catenary. To avoid passengers being stranded in remote cuttings, DB took the unprecedented decision to halt all ICE and IC services north of Hanover—stranding thousands at Hamburg-Altona and Berlin-Spandau and triggering emergency sleeping coaches.
For multinational employers, the disruption underscores the fragility of Europe’s most densely scheduled rail network. Mobility managers scrambling to move staff between client sites have been advised to switch to domestic air routes where possible and to allow half-day buffers before intercontinental departures out of Frankfurt or Munich. DB has extended flexible rebooking policies and will partially refund BahnCard 100 subscriptions.
![Deutsche Bahn Restarts Long-Distance Services After Weather Shutdown—but Timetables Remain Fragile]()
While companies juggle alternative travel plans, international staff may also need to update or replace travel documents on short notice. VisaHQ can take that headache off the table by streamlining German and Schengen visa applications through its digital platform, offering real-time tracking, expedited processing and expert support for both individual travelers and corporate mobility teams. Requirements and turnaround options can be reviewed in minutes at https://www.visahq.com/germany/.
Transport economists warn that the clean-up could collide with looming wage strikes by the GDL drivers’ union, creating a “perfect storm” later this quarter. The Federal Transport Ministry has ordered an after-action review into DB’s extreme-weather protocols, with early suggestions ranging from heated switch systems to pre-positioning diesel locomotives at key hubs.
Until full resilience measures are funded, corporates with high-mobility workforces are urged to maintain multimodal contingency plans—including remote-work options—to avoid productivity losses the next time Germany’s winter paralyses its flagship rail grid.
The chaos began Friday night when snowdrifts up to one metre buried points across Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein, while 90 km/h gusts tore overhead catenary. To avoid passengers being stranded in remote cuttings, DB took the unprecedented decision to halt all ICE and IC services north of Hanover—stranding thousands at Hamburg-Altona and Berlin-Spandau and triggering emergency sleeping coaches.
For multinational employers, the disruption underscores the fragility of Europe’s most densely scheduled rail network. Mobility managers scrambling to move staff between client sites have been advised to switch to domestic air routes where possible and to allow half-day buffers before intercontinental departures out of Frankfurt or Munich. DB has extended flexible rebooking policies and will partially refund BahnCard 100 subscriptions.
While companies juggle alternative travel plans, international staff may also need to update or replace travel documents on short notice. VisaHQ can take that headache off the table by streamlining German and Schengen visa applications through its digital platform, offering real-time tracking, expedited processing and expert support for both individual travelers and corporate mobility teams. Requirements and turnaround options can be reviewed in minutes at https://www.visahq.com/germany/.
Transport economists warn that the clean-up could collide with looming wage strikes by the GDL drivers’ union, creating a “perfect storm” later this quarter. The Federal Transport Ministry has ordered an after-action review into DB’s extreme-weather protocols, with early suggestions ranging from heated switch systems to pre-positioning diesel locomotives at key hubs.
Until full resilience measures are funded, corporates with high-mobility workforces are urged to maintain multimodal contingency plans—including remote-work options—to avoid productivity losses the next time Germany’s winter paralyses its flagship rail grid.
