Berlin, 9 October 2022 (dpa/MIA) - State security services have taken the lead in investigating the apparent sabotage of railway lines in northern Germany that brought transport in the region to a halt for several hours, a spokesperson told dpa on Sunday. The state security policing arm of Berlin's State Office of Criminal Investigation is responsible for investigating politically motivated offences, among other things. However, officials are not ruling out other motives. It is leading the probe after German rail operator Deutsche Bahn said an act of "sabotage" against its communications cables caused massive problems with the train network in the north of the country for several hours on Saturday morning. Fibre optic cables in Berlin's Hohenschönhausen district and in the city of Herne in the western state of North Rhine Westphalia were damaged, according to security sources. The spokesperson said it was unclear whether the damage to the lines was politically motivated, and that officials are investigating all possibilities. She said no results were expected on Sunday. The railway operator's backup system also failed as a result of the damage to the fibre optic cables at Berlin's Karower Kreuz junction as well as in western Germany, suspending all long-distance trains and some regional ones and leaving countless travellers stranded at stations. "Cables that are essential for train operations were maliciously and wilfully cut," German Transport Minister Volker Wissing said.