Sabotage suspected after fires damage signalling cables on Cologne-Duesseldorf rail line, repairs to stretch into Saturday afternoon

A stretch of one of Germany’s busiest rail corridors has been shut since Friday morning after two separate embankment fires broke out between Langenfeld and Leverkusen, severing signalling cables and triggering a state-security investigation over suspected sabotage. Repairs are expected to last at least until Saturday afternoon, forcing long-distance, regional, and cross-border services onto diversionary routes with delays of about 30 minutes and sporadic cancellations.

The fires and the immediate damage

Flames were reported at two locations on Friday morning: one near Reuschenberger Hof at a bridge over the Wupper in Leverkusen, the other at a railway embankment on Heckenstrasse in Langenfeld. Fire crews extinguished both blazes quickly, but the heat destroyed several signalling cables along the track. A spokesperson for Deutsche Bahn confirmed that no trains can operate on the affected segment while the cables remain out of action, and engineers are working to restore the infrastructure as fast as possible.

The fire has caused damage to the rail infrastructure, so that currently no train journeys are possible on the section between Langenfeld (Rheinl.) and Leverkusen.

The sabotage investigation

Cologne police’s state-security unit took over the case late on Friday. Investigators consider a technical defect unlikely, according to security circles cited by Deutsche Presse-Agentur. A police spokesperson said detectives are examining whether the fire was set deliberately and whether any criminal conduct has occurred. The police forensics team was dispatched to inspect the fire sites in detail by Friday afternoon.

It must now be examined whether a criminal act has taken place.

The transfer of the investigation to the state-security division signals that authorities are not ruling out a politically motivated background, though no information about possible perpetrators or motives has been released.

Passenger impact and service disruptions

Deutsche Bahn estimates that long-distance trains are delayed by roughly 30 minutes. Affected corridors include Cologne-Duesseldorf-Dortmund, Cologne-Duesseldorf-Recklinghausen-Muenster, and the cross-border link from Cologne via Duesseldorf to Amsterdam. The carrier warned passengers to expect diversions and partial cancellations on the Duesseldorf-Neuss-Dormagen-Cologne and Duesseldorf-Solingen-Opladen-Cologne routes.

On the regional side, lines RE 1 (RRX) and RE 5 (RRX) have bus replacement services with four coaches running between Duesseldorf and Cologne main stations. S-Bahn line S 6 is curtailed: trains from Essen end and start at Duesseldorf Hauptbahnhof, with partial cancellations between Duesseldorf and Koeln-Worringen. A separate replacement bus service covers all S-Bahn stops between Duesseldorf Hauptbahnhof and Koeln-Muelheim, and passengers are advised to use S 11 trains between Koeln-Muelheim and Koeln-Worringen. Deutsche Bahn urged travellers to check the DB Navigator app or the websites bahn.de/aktuell and zuginfo.nrw before departure.

It is not yet foreseeable when rail traffic can resume. The repair work will continue at least into the afternoon hours of Saturday.

Broader strain on the network

The disruption lands during an already challenging period for rail passengers along the Rhine corridor. On the right bank of the Rhine, a five-month full closure between Wiesbaden and Troisdorf began on Friday for a comprehensive overhaul of tracks, points, overhead lines, signalling, bridges, tunnels and stations on the 160-kilometre stretch. The project is scheduled to run until mid-December, meaning thousands of commuters and long-distance travellers now face two parallel pinch points on both sides of the river.

The Cologne state-security investigation remains open and no timeline for its completion has been given.