Germany's most populous state said Thursday it was looking into ways to keep a key power station operating after warnings that rail transport could grind to a halt when it goes offline. The economy minister of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), Garrelt Duin, told the online edition of the Rheinische Post daily that authorities were working "intensively" to find a solution to a problem that could affect millions.
"We are working intensively on a legally correct solution to allow the plant to stay on the network for longer than previously planned," Duin said. "I am sure there will be no cancellations in NRW this winter due to insufficient power resources for trains," added Duin.
Three blocks of the Datteln power plant in the western state were due to be mothballed in January. According to the website of E.ON, which runs the plant, they provide around 20 percent of the power for the railways in the region. Duin's pledge came after the head of Germany's state-run rail operator, Deutsche Bahn (DB), warned train services might be scrapped after Datteln is halted. A replacement plant is not yet ready to be added to the network.
On cold winter days, as many as 30 percent of the train services might be cancelled, Ruediger Grube told the WAZ group of newspapers earlier Thursday. "If the mothballing occurs and nothing happens, there is a danger that DB could have bottlenecks in its supply on cold winter mornings," he said. NRW is one of DB's busiest states, employing 30,000 staff and carrying some 21 million long-distance passengers and 306 million regional passengers.