Dear Customers,
Due to combined track closures in the Elbe Valley (see our Newsletter No. 045/2026 dated 02/03/2026), train windows are significantly limited this entire week, and capacity in both directions is overloaded. No further routes are available for today. All these closures are significantly complicating traffic across the entire German rail infrastructure. Due to general congestion, infrastructure managers are regulating traffic. On Tuesday, 17 March, for instance, no trains were allowed to depart from Hamburg in the morning; in the Czech Republic, a halt has now been declared for all trains between Česká Třebová and Děčín. Trains are being stopped at various locations; the circulation of train sets and locomotives is severely disrupted, and we do not have sufficient resources to ensure the smooth operation of our services. Significant delays are occurring. We are forced to cancel some trains.
Hamburg: HPA lifted the entry restrictions today, 19 March, at 10:40 a.m. Some terminals are experiencing delays of up to 8 hours.
Bremerhaven: Bremenports is managing train entry. The situation regarding train movements is extremely tense here, and delays in both directions are reaching several days. To stabilise the situation, we will have to cancel several train pairs heading to the Czech Republic.
Rotterdam / Duisburg: Delays of up to 24 hours.
Czech Republic: Major track closures: Kolín – Pardubice, Mělník – Všetaty, Zámrsk – Uhersko, Podivín – Zaječí; there are also track closures in Česká Třebová and Havířov. The route from METRANS Česká Třebová to Děčín, which normally takes 5 hours, is taking up to 12 hours due to the closures.
Gdańsk: Trains are currently running with delays of up to three days due to disruptions in train operations caused by a long-term closure between METRANS Ostrava and Česká Třebová terminals, as we reported in Newsletter No. 039/2026. To compensate for this backlog, we were forced to cancel a few trains on 18–19/03/2026. The BalticHub terminal is operating this week with a 20% reduction in scheduled slot capacity. Imports are fully booked until 14/04/2026 incl., and it is not currently possible to request a special train.
Our Customer Service Team will answer any questions you may have regarding specific shipments.
METRANS Team
