ICE and regional trains were disrupted on July 29 after an arson attack was carried out on the railway line between Hamburg and Bremen.

Arson attack disrupts Deustche Bahn traffic

Trains were disrupted on Monday after arsonists set fire to a cable shaft on the line between Hamburg and Bremen. According to police, the arsonists targeted the shaft near Bremen Bürgerpark in the early hours and used an incendiary agent to start the fire.

While no passengers were hurt, ICE trains between North Rhine-Westphalia and Hamburg could not run via Bremen Hauptbahnhof. Trains between Sagehorn, east of Bremen and Bremen Hauptbahnhof were also affected.

Police investigate if the attack was politically motivated

Germany’s state security agency (Bundeskriminalamt) is now investigating whether the attack was politically motivated.

The disruption between Hamburg and Bremen follows a series of arson attacks in northern France last week, which disrupted three major lines ahead of the Olympic opening ceremony.

According to France’s Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin a “number of profiles of people who could have committed these very deliberate, very targeted acts of sabotage” have been identified.

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