Dear Customers,

As of today, there has been no significant improvement in the railway operational situation. On the contrary, operations were considerably complicated by an extraordinary incident on the railway line between Lüneburg and Hamburg, where on 1 May 2026 a passenger train near Bardowick station tore down the overhead line. As a result of the recovery work, trains were only able to pass through the affected section at a restricted speed of 20 km/h. Operations were restored in the early morning hours of 6 May 2026.
This incident has further aggravated the already difficult situation on the railway network. The infrastructure is extremely congested, especially on the Hannover-Magdeburg–Helmstedt section, where trains are experiencing significant delays or remain stationary.
 
Hamburg: train entry controlled by HPA. Arrival tracks are occupied and, due to insufficient capacity, the entry and sequencing of each train is entirely subject to HPA decisions. Some terminals are operating with delays.
Import delays up to 2 days, export delays up to 4 days.
 
Bremerhaven: train entry controlled by BremenPorts.
Import delays up to 3 days, export delays up to 36 hours.
 
Wilhelmshaven: Import delays up to 24 hours, export delays up to 36 hours.
 
Germany national network: Delays up to 2 days apply to both import and export.
 
Rotterdam / Duisburg: Import delays up to 15 hours, export delays up to 10 hours.
 
Gdańsk: Train operations according to the standard timetable. Import capacities are fully booked up to and including 16 May 2026.
 
Gądki: Import delays up to 24 hours, export delays up to 2 days.
 
If you have any questions regarding specific shipments, please contact our customer service team.
 
METRANS Team