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WEATHER

Transport freeze begins to thaw

As the clock ticks down to Christmas, the winter transport chaos that has gripped Germany began to settle down Wednesday with airlines gradually resuming normal schedules and Deutsche Bahn deploying extra trains.

Published: 22 December 2010 10:03 CET
Transport freeze begins to thaw
Photo: DPA

Travellers desperate to reach their holiday destinations have for days battled problems with planes, trains and automobiles caused by brutal ice and snow.

Improved weather made it possible for Lufthansa to end the special flight schedules that have been in operation since the weekend, spokesman Thomas Jachnow said Wednesday morning.

All planned international flights will take place – though problems with flights to Heathrow, London could still be expected because of that airport’s own severe delays.

Starting Wednesday, national railway Deutsche Bahn will also operate more trains on heavily trafficked routes to compensate for the growing number of holiday travellers opting for the train over driving or flying. The company estimated an extra 50,000 to 100,000 passengers per day are using the rail network.

Lufthansa is still asking travellers to take alternative modes of transport if possible, owing to the massive backlog of passengers waiting to fly. Passengers should also arrive at the airport at least three hours before take-off, Jachnow said.

Frankfurt Airport, which had to be shut down entirely for several hours Tuesday morning, also said it would be back to business as usual on Wednesday. All three runways were operating, said Heinz Fass, spokesman for airport operator Fraport.

Nevertheless, some 68 flights – 49 landings and 19 take-offs – had to be cancelled Wednesday morning because of problems at other European airports. “That has nothing to do with Frankfurt,” Fass said.

On Tuesday, some 600 flights had to be cancelled, leaving thousands of travellers stranded. About 5,000 passengers had to spend Tuesday night in Frankfurt hotels. While there was still a huge backlog, operations were gradually returning to normal.

German Transport Minister Peter Ramsauer meanwhile defended the government’s readiness for snow-caused problems, saying there had been no glaring failures. Ramsauer said he had been careful to ensure the salt supplies were sufficient for de-icing and that motorists adhered to winter tyres laws.

Nevertheless, he said he understood why there was “tremendous anger” among a great mass of travellers who were struggling to reach Christmas destinations.

Through at least December 29, Deutsche Bahn will run additional Intercity trains on important north-south and east-west routes at the expense of less-travelled connections. The extra trains will travel from Cologne and the Ruhr to Berlin, Hamburg to Munich, Hamburg to Basel via the Ruhr Valley and Stuttgart.

Customers can see the new train times online at www.bahn.de.

“We hope these schedule changes will allow us to avoid overfilled trains on main routes while still not leaving passengers stranded on minor routes,“ said DB board member Ulrich Homburg.

Passengers losing their reservations due to the altered schedule can have their tickets refunded at no charge.

DAPD/DPA/The Local/dw/mry

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BERLIN

Anmeldung: Berlin to re-launch online housing registration in October

Finding an appointment at the Bürgeramt to register an address has long been an unwanted chore for new arrivals in Berlin - but from October, this gruelling ritual will be a thing of the past.

Published: 19 September 2024 13:51 CEST
Anmeldung: Berlin to re-launch online housing registration in October

Every foreigner who’s lived in the German capital has experienced the stress of trying to find an appointment at the Bürgeramt, or citizens’ office. 

In order to register an address – a process known as the Anmeldung in German – residents generally have to scour a list of available appointments, sometimes waiting weeks for a spot or travelling to a far-flung part of the city to complete the process. 

From mid-October, however, the city has announced that people will be able to register and deregister their place of residence online. The Local has contacted officials to ask for the specific date in October that this is happening and will update this story when we receive the information. 

According to the Senate, the move will free up around 500,000 appointments that would ordinarily have been taken by the hundreds of thousands who move into and around the city each year.

Berlin had briefly offered online registrations during the Covid-19 pandemic, but removed the service once social restrictions were lifted. 

How will the new system work?

The online registration system is apparently based on Hamburg’s system, which was developed under the so-called ‘one-for-all’ (EfA) principle. This means that other states around Germany can adopt the same software as part of their digitalisation efforts.

People who want to register address will need to fill in an online form, provide proof of their new residence and also identify themselves using their electronic ID, which will either be an electronic residence permit or a German or EU ID card. 

READ ALSO: What is Germany’s electronic ID card and how do you use it?

After the process has been completed, a sticker for the ID card will be sent out via post.

Aufenthaltstitel

A German residence permit or ‘Aufenthaltstitel’ with an electronic ID function. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Daniel Karmann

This can then be used to update the information on a residents’ eID card and access the registration confirmation digitally.

Those who don’t have access to a validated electronic ID will need to either activate their eID function at the immigration office or Bürgeramt or register their address in person.  

In 2024, the service will only be available for single residents, but online registration for families is also in the pipeline.

Is Berlin making progress with digitalisation?

It certainly seems like it. This latest move is part of a larger push to complete digitalise Berlin’s creaking services and move to a faster, more efficient online system.

At the start of the year, the capital centralised its naturalisation office in the Landesamt für Einwanderung (LEA) and moved all citizenship applications online. 

Since then, citizenship applications have been completed around ten times faster than previously – though tens of thousands of applicants are still waiting for a response on their paper applications.

More recently, the LEA also announced that it had moved to a new appointment-booking system designed to end the predatory practice of appointment touting, or selling appointments for a fee.

Under the new system, many residents permits – including EU Blue Cards – can be directly applied for online, with in-person appointments reserved for collecting the new (or renewed) permit.

READ ALSO: What to know about the new appointments system at Berlin immigration office

Meanwhile, those who can’t apply online yet can access appointments by filling in the contact form, with the LEA hoping that this will deter people from booking appointments with the intention to sell them on. 

In another move to speed up bureaucracy, Berlin also opened a new Bürgeramt in the district of Spandau this September, with the governing CDU announcing on X that more new offices would follow in the near future. 

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