After standing still for around two hours Wednesday morning, the Oslo area’s sprawling metro system (T-bane) finally began rolling around 11am but trouble remained and delays continued. Metro officials at operating agency Sporveien claimed there was no indication the system was hit by a cyber attack.
“There’s nothing suggesting that now,” Sporveien spokesman Cato Asperud told state broadcaster NRK at midday. “We’re actively trying to identify the problem and hope to solve it as quickly as possible.”
All T-bane trains from Kolsås in the west to Ellingsrud and Mortensrud in the north- and southeast ground to a halt after Sporveien lost all data communication with them. Trains were ordered to stop at the closest station and remain there until communications could be restored.
By mid-day they were able to run on makeshift schedules of only every 15 minutes, and officials warned that delays were likely throughout the day.
“It’s the communication between operations central and every single set of metro trains that broke down,” Asperud said. Without the ability to contact various trains, or for their drivers to contact central operations, they had to be halted.
The breakdown occurred at the end of the morning commuter rush. Passengers affected were urged to seek alternative transport such as the bus or trams, with refund guarantees in place for taxis.
The breakdown also prevented Sporveien officials from using the loudspeakers set up at stations that otherwise are meant to inform passengers of delays or other problems. Only some screens that announce arrivals of trains could be used to inform passengers of the halt in all T-bane traffic.
newsinenglish.no staff
