German Rail Line Sabotaged Ahead of Planned US Army Military Convoy

A freight train derailed near the German city of Essen on January 12, just hours after the same stretch of railway was scheduled to be used by a US military transport train carrying weapons and equipment.

The derailment did not cause any injuries, but it has triggered an investigation into possible sabotage.

According to Bild, the incident occurred around 22:30 local time and involved one axle of the locomotive leaving the tracks.

German police from North Rhine-Westphalia confirmed that a US Army train had been scheduled to pass through the same section of track earlier that evening, at approximately 18:40.

Investigators at the scene discovered several metal brackets fastened directly to the rails. The last train to pass over the line before the derailment—at around 17:30—had done so without incident.

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Due to delays, the planned US military convoy was rerouted along an alternate line, and a civilian freight train carrying tanker cars used the original route and subsequently derailed.

Authorities are now examining whether the metal brackets could have been remnants from recent rail maintenance or if they were placed intentionally. While the cause has not been officially determined, police are not ruling out deliberate interference.

Earlier in January, a far-left extremist group claimed responsibility for an arson attack on Berlin’s Lichterfelde power station, which caused a major blackout affecting over 35,000 households and 2,000 businesses. According to Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, the sabotage disrupted power and heating across four districts, prompting emergency shelter setups and heightened police patrols.

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