A report by the Berlin newspaper Tagesspiegel has claimed that Deutsche Bahn is running empty intercity (ICE) trains through the capital at night due to a lack of parking space in local rail yards.

Full yards leave Deutsche Bahn running empty trains

According to Tagesspiegel, Germany’s national rail operator Deutsche Bahn is running “five or six” ICE trains “with no passengers onboard” through the night around Berlin.

The newspaper cited Deutsche Bahn “insiders” as a source, who explained that the ICE “ghost train” services were due to a lack of parking spaces at rail yards in the capital.

Since Berlin lies near the northeastern German border, many Deutsche Bahn services begin and end in the capital in the early morning or late evening. This leaves more ICE trains to break overnight in Berlin than the city’s rail yards can currently accommodate.

Deutsche Bahn “ghost trains” waste electricity and staff time

Since Tagesspiegel’s report was published, Deutsche Bahn has faced criticism for wasting electricity and staff's working hours by regularly running multiple “ghost trains” through the night.

According to the German Train Drivers’ Union (GDL), Deutsche Bahn has around 1.200 unfilled train driver positions. Running empty services is compounding the worker shortage because train drivers responsible for running the nightly “ghost trains” cannot work daytime shifts on regular services. 

Tagesspiegel reported that the “ghost train” services are a consequence of locals in an unspecified southern district of Berlin spurning construction plans for a new Deutsche Bahn rail yard. But a Deutsche Bahn spokesperson claimed the “ghost trains” were a “completely normal operational procedure”.

Plans are now going ahead for Deutsche Bahn to construct a new rail yard in the northern Berlin district of Pankow.

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