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Flights cancelled and trains disrupted after heavy snowfall in Munich

Munich airport reopened on Sunday after Saturday's heavy snowfall, but hundreds of flights have been cancelled and there are still no trains leaving the Bavarian city's main station.

Published: 3 December 2023 11:54 CET
This 2021 file photo shows a man in high-visibility clothing walking over snow-covered railtracks in a freight railway yard in Munich.
This 2021 file photo shows a man in high-visibility clothing walking over snow-covered railtracks in a freight railway yard in Munich. Heavy snowfall in the city caused trains, flights and roads to grind to a halt on Saturday. / AFP / Christof STACHE

Munich airport said on its website that flights were able to resume from 6am on Sunday, but some 560 of around 880 scheduled flights have been cancelled, a spokesperson told German news agency DPA. 

The temporary stop to flights on Saturday impacted take-offs and landings at other airports, too.

Anyone due to fly on Sunday should check the status of their flight before travelling.

More than 40 centimetres of snow fell on Saturday, German weather services said, bringing trains in Munich and wider Bavaria to a stop.

READ ALSO: Heavy snow paralyses parts of southern Germany

No trains

Munich main station is expected to remain closed until at least 10am on Sunday, operator Deutsche Bahn said, asking travellers to postpone any non-urgent trips.

The railway wants to get trains up and running again as soon as possible, but this will only be on a few routes in the first instance and there will be fewer trains than normal, a spokesperson told DPA.

Travellers are still likely to face massive disruptions until at least Monday due to damaged infrastructure.

However, transport authorities said that bus, tram and suburban train services in Munich should resume on Sunday.

Traffic returned to normal on the roads in Bavaria overnight, however, with authorities only reporting minor incidents.

“A few trees fell down, but this only caused accidents with car body damage” a spokesman for the Upper Bavaria South police told DPA.

And in Lower Bavaria, a spokesperson said the number of accidents was also “typical for the time of year”.

The police said the night was similarly quiet on the streets in northern Upper Bavaria and Swabia.

Freezing temperatures 

The wintry weather didn’t just affect Bavaria either. The weather also impacted road travel in parts of northern Germany with one car in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern coming off a snow-covered road and hitting a tree. The driver and one passenger were seriously injured.

Further snowfall is not expected in most of Bavaria on Sunday, but the Eastern Central Uplands and the Alps may see several centimetres of fresh snow.

Forecasters are predicting lows of -6C to -9C on Sunday.

South of the Danube, temperatures could sink as low as -10C to -15C in some areas.

It’s set to remain cold on Monday and Tuesday with only sporadic snowfall.

It’s a similar picture for other parts of Germany, too: occasional snowfall is expected in Lower Saxony, on the North Sea coast and between the Ore Mountains and the Harz Mountains on Sunday.

On Monday, it’s forecast to turn to rain in those areas, but it should remain dry from Berlin to southern Bavaria.

 
 

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TRAVEL NEWS

‘Improve punctuality’: Can Germany sort out its crisis-hit trains?

Transport Minister Volker Wissing is piling pressure on rail operator Deutsche Bahn to improve its services amid dismal punctuality rates. Here's a look at his latest restructuring plan.

Published: 6 September 2024 10:59 CEST
'Improve punctuality': Can Germany sort out its crisis-hit trains?

Rail passengers in Germany have seen punctuality rates plummet in recent years. In June it was reported that only around half of long-distance trains arrived at their destination on time.

Operator Deutsche Bahn (DB) has pledged to improve the railway network by investing €16.4 billion in an infrastructure programme over the next six years. 

But this week, Transport Minister Volker Wissing brought several demands to the table aimed at making German train travel more efficient.

Now that the track refurbishment is underway, Wissing said: “Deutsche Bahn must deliver now,” adding that he wants to “see an improvement by 2027”.

Wissing said the goal is for Deutsche Bahn to be “optimally positioned” and become a “reliable mode of transport”.

Here’s a look at the main points of the plan:

  • Improve punctuality, bringing it up to a top level comparable to international standards. Wissing also said DB has to be punctual even when there are extreme weather conditions
  • Improve the capacity utilisation of long-distance trains
  • Review management and cut administration
  • Review investments outside of infrastructure modernisation
  • Improve the efficiency of the rail network operator ‘InfraGo’
  • Driving forward digitalisation
  • Risk management in climate change

READ ALSO: How travelling on German trains has become a nightmare for foreigners

Job cuts and no cancellation of train routes

As well as the focus on punctuality, Wissing is calling for better capacity usage of long-distance trains and fewer management staff.

According to the FDP minister, the operator currently has “too much administration”. Wissing said there should be fewer bosses in management and more staff in operations.

DB already announced at the end of July that it plans to cut around 30,000 jobs within five years – mainly in administration.

Transport Minister Volker Wissing visits a rail construction site in Hesse.

Transport Minister Volker Wissing visits a rail construction site in Hesse. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Andreas Arnold

Wissing also cited cost efficiency in the procurement of materials and on construction sites as one of the most important goals. He added that all areas, including long-distance transport and DB Cargo, are in deficit and there is a need for improvement.

Saving targets should not, however, lead to unprofitable rail routes being axed. Opposition leader Friedrich Merz, of the CDU, suggested in July that the route network should be thinned out to improve punctuality. But Wissing said this “cannot be the aspiration of a company like ours” and that DB should instead run a tightly synchronised operation on time as part of the restructuring project. 

To achieve this, DB has to modernise its infrastructure – a task that is already ongoing. Among the biggest this year is the refurbishment of the Riedbahn between Frankfurt and Mannheim. It closed for renovation in July and is scheduled to reopen fully on December 14th.

READ ALSO: What are the big travel changes in Germany this autumn?

Wissing said Deutsche Bahn has to become more efficient and reliable. “I am now demanding this in concrete terms,” he said.

Bosses at Deutsche Bahn are now required to submit a renovation concept, while the implementation will be closely monitored every three months. Targets are to be set for each year up to 2027 and reviewed by the Transport Ministry. 

A Deutsche Bahn steering group has been set up within the ministry to closely monitor the reorganisation.

READ ALSO: ‘Learn from the Swiss’ – How Germany can solve its endless rail problems

What’s the reaction?

Transport politician Matthias Gastel from the Greens reacted sceptically to Wissing’s plan, saying that his demands were vague.

Other critics had a similar reaction. Previously, the German government has said its short-term goal is to get 70 percent of trains to run on time and to increase this to 80 percent by 2030, but there was no mention of figures in Wissing’s latest call. 

An op-ed in German newspaper Welt said: “Wissing has a seven-point plan, but on the three A4 pages there is not one concrete figure by which the Transport Minister wants to measure the ‘Bahn’ in future. Instead, there are vague declarations of intent.”

Passenger rights groups see the efforts as positive – but also called for more information. 

“The ministry cares about the railways and wants to get involved,” said Andreas Schröder from the passenger association Pro Bahn.

However, he said the paper is “very general” and that there is no explanation of how goals are to be achieved.

The next step is for DB’s supervisory board to discuss the proposal and submit a response to the Transport Ministry.

According to Wissing, the reorganisation plan should be available “as quickly and as concretely as possible”.

READ ALSO: What to know about Deutsche Bahn’s summer service changes

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