Major construction sites: Where rail traffic will stop in the next few months

The Riedbahn renovation marks the beginning of a large-scale modernization of Deutsche Bahn's railway network. To achieve this, numerous routes across Germany will be closed in the coming months.

As of today, the Riedbahn route between Frankfurt am Main and Mannheim will be completely closed for several months. This marks the beginning of extensive renovation work by Deutsche Bahn, which will significantly impact rail traffic throughout Germany in the coming weeks, months and years. More than 40 routes will be modernized by 2030. This year alone, 14 railway lines remain under the railway renewal plan.

Redbahn between Frankfurt and Mannheim

As of late Monday evening, at 11 p.m., nothing is working on the busy Frankfurt-Mannheim connection. Tracks, overhead lines, signals, switches, bridges and stations will be updated by mid-December.

high speed road Cologne – Frankfurt

the important High-speed ICE route between Cologne and Frankfurt It will be closed for about four weeks from Tuesday, July 16, due to construction work. During this time, 70 kilometres of track and 13 switches along the route will be replaced. At the same time, construction work is underway at the long-distance train station at Frankfurt Airport.

Trains will be rerouted until August 12 and the stations Siegburg/Bonn, Montabaur and Limburg Süd will no longer be available and can only be reached by alternative bus service. According to Deutsche Bahn, passengers should expect train cancellations and delays of between 40 and 90 minutes.

Complete closure in the Ruhr area

As of July 22nd The route between Duisburg and Essen and the route between Duisburg and Oberhausen The tracks have been renovated. For this purpose the roads will be completely closed until August 2nd.

This results in significant restrictions on train traffic and changes to travel times: Deutsche Bahn has announced diversions of trains between Cologne and Dortmund and on the route between Düsseldorf and Dortmund. In addition, long-distance trains do not stop at Düsseldorf Airport, at Duisburg main station (except for a few individual trains), at Oberhausen main station or at Mülheim main station (Ruhr).

bridge work Between Berlin and Frankfurt (Oder)

It will happen twice Berlin-Frankfurt railway on the Oder Still closed this year: Deutsche Bahn is carrying out bridge works on the route between July 23 and August 5, 2024 and between September 7 and October 4 this year. To do this, the route must be completely closed.

On the Berlin-Warsaw route, construction work will eliminate stops at Berlin Hbf Main Station, Berlin-Ostbahnhof and Berlin-Ostkreuz. Rail traffic between Berlin Central Station and Frankfurt (Oder) will be replaced by buses (IC-Bus).

Construction site between Berlin and Halle

From July 26 ICE route between Berlin and Halle It is blocked. Construction is scheduled to continue until August 16. The railway has not provided any additional information on this matter so far.

Construction work at Stuttgart intersection

Between July 27 and September 6 Deutsche Bahn closes tunnel in downtown Stuttgart to train traffic. The railways then continue to modernize the main S-Bahn line in Stuttgart. For the Digital Hub Stuttgart pilot project, the main line will be equipped with digital technology and extensive cabling work will be carried out. Deutsche Bahn is also continuing work on connecting the S-Bahn to the new tunnel in the direction of Mittnachtstrasse.

As in previous years, the S-Bahn runs on lines 1 to 5 at the main station above – this also affects long-distance traffic: Trains between Stuttgart and Zurich only run on the section between Stuttgart-Vaihingen and Zurich.

Construction work between Dortmund and Siegen

From August 2nd to September 20th Dortmund – Siegen route Construction work is planned. No other information is known about this yet.

Only single-lane traffic between Erfurt and Eisenach

As of August 2nd there will be Section between Erfurt and Eisenach The tracks and switches have been updated. Until December 14, the track is only accessible by one lane in some sections, and in some cases it must be completely closed.

According to Deutsche Bahn, long-distance trains between Erfurt and Eisenach should continue to run. According to Deutsche Bahn, ICE Sprinters between Berlin and Frankfurt that travel via Erfurt will no longer be available. Trains between Gera and Eisenach will also be temporarily cancelled.

Construction work between Ulm and Augsburg

Between August 8 and September 6 The road between Ulm and Augsburg Construction work is planned. No other information is known about this yet.

Expansion and new construction between Karlsruhe and Freiburg

in August The road between Karlsruhe and Basel Further expanded. From August 10 to 30, construction work will be carried out simultaneously on tracks, switches, overhead lines and railway bridges between Rastatt and Baden-Baden and between Karlsruhe and Baden-Baden. Some trains will be rerouted, some stations will be cancelled and a rail-bus replacement service will be put into operation.

The “Extension and New Line Karlsruhe – Basel” project provides two additional tracks so that long-distance, local and freight transport will have more space on the tracks in the future.

bridge work Between Hamm and Hanover

From August 16 to September 6 Bridge works and noise protection works on the Hamm-Hannover road It has been implemented. To achieve this, the entire railway line between North Rhine-Westphalia and Berlin must be closed and trains rerouted. As a result, the long-distance transfer stations in Gütersloh, Bielefeld, Herford, Bad Oeynhausen and Minden will be cancelled.

The IC connection, which runs between Frankfurt (Main) and Dresden via Hanover, is also affected by the construction work. It will only operate between Hanover and Dresden. As a result, all stations between Frankfurt (Main) and Hanover will be cancelled.

First closure between Hamburg and Berlin

It's the first of two long closures in just two years: from August 16, the road between Hamburg and Berlin It was renovated by December 14. Switches, tracks and bridges are being replaced. Long-distance trains will then run every hour between the main stations in Hamburg and Berlin and the journey time will be extended by 45 minutes. On the IC line Warnemünde – Leipzig, trains only depart from Magdeburg.

And just six months later, another major construction project will be on the way: a general renovation is planned, which the DB Group has already announced. From June 6 to December 13, 2025, the 280-kilometre high-speed line will be closed and expanded into a so-called “high-performance corridor”.

Hamburg-Schwerin road renovation

Another construction site in northern Germany starts on August 17 and is scheduled to run until November 22. As part of Renewal of the road between Hamburg and Schwerin The railroad is renovating switches, tracks and bridges.

Until September 29, individual long-distance trains will initially only run on the section between Schwerin and Stralsund. An alternative bus service (IC bus) will be set up between Hamburg and Schwerin. There will be only one direct connection between Hamburg Central Station and the Baltic Sea resort of Binz per day.

From September 30th to November 22nd, trains will no longer stop at Hamburg Central Station. Instead, you will be redirected between Hamburg-Harburg and Schwerin Hbf.

Noise protection between Ham and Hagen

From October 19 to December 14 there will be Important Section – Hagen At the same time, we worked on the tracks and noise protection systems. The construction work will also be used to carry out the necessary works on the railway bridges.

As a result, train connections on the route from Cologne to Hamm via Wuppertal have been cancelled. There is also a reduced offer for long-distance transport in Wuppertal and Hagen. All long-distance transport stops in Schwerte (Ruhr) and Unna will be cancelled.