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Storm paralyzes train traffic in Germany

Xinhua, March 31, 2015 Adjust font size:

German national railway operator Deutsche Bahn (DB) announced on Tuesday it would suspend regional trains in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia for the whole day as hurricane "Niklas" raged across Germany.

As from 11:00 a.m. local time (1000 GMT), regional trains stopped running in North Rhine-Westphalia, the company said.

As German media Spiegel Online reported, thousands of travelers were stuck at railway stations including in Duesseldorf, Bielefeld, Dortmund and Cologne.

According to a report by German media Focus Online, 220 passengers were trapped in Osnabrueck, as several trees had fallen on an Intercity train.

Meanwhile, in southern Germany, one main railway line between Munich and Augsburg was suspended in the morning due to storm damage.

According to German weather service, DWD, "Niklas" was one of the strongest storms to hit the country in recent years, with gusts of up to 150 km/h.

Its storm and hurricane field will cover large parts of Germany during the day on Tuesday before moving on to Poland. Endit